


Underfell: Deal with the Devil

by Miss_InkPen



Category: Underfell!, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-24 14:50:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 44,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8376271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_InkPen/pseuds/Miss_InkPen
Summary: This is the story of Frisk's journey after freeing the monsters of the Underfell AU from the Underground. The human spent a lot of time trying to find a way to get a happy ending for everyone. After nearly a dozen timeline RESETS she had finally done it, but was she willing to pay the price for Sans's help in getting that happy ending? A promise is a promise after all...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Readers! Welcome to my newest story Deal with the Devil based in the Underfell universe! What is my fascination with the Underfell AU you might be asking yourself. Well I don't have a very good answer aside from the fact that I am intrigued by the idea of my favorite Undertale characters portrayed with edgier and darker personalities. I feel like I have a little more freedom working with the idea of of Underfell characters then I do with with the original Undertale characters.
> 
> If you're here because you like my Undertale story and thought you'd give this one a read then thank you for choosing to read this. If you're more of a fan of the original Undertale then you may not really enjoy this story quite as much. This story will have a darker atmosphere to it. Violence, swearing, potentially suggestive content, and darker themes are just a few things to mention. Basically put it won't be a bunch of sunshine and rainbows. There will probably be some fluff thrown in however((I love fluff, so don't be surprised if it's there.)) It's really a good opportunity for me to try something outside of what I normally type.
> 
> I have a very vague idea for where I want to go with this story, but it's more or less something I'll use to take a break from my Undertale story occasionally so the updates on this one might be sporadic. It's more or less what I'll use when I want to step away from Undertale but if I don't want to stop writing.
> 
> Thank you all for reading, commenting, and faving this story! I hope you all enjoy!

A young woman sat with her anxiety safely hidden away from view in a big conference room filled with both humans and monsters. She had rich, chocolate colored hair that came down to the top of her back. Today the woman had it pulled back into a mini pony tail with a few stray bangs loosely framing her face. She had a pair of sharp looking green eyes that held a glimmer of incredible intelligence in their emerald colored depths. Her slightly sun kissed skin seemed a bit out of place for a human who had been in the Underground for what appeared to be the better part of a year.  The young woman wore a charcoal gray suit in place of a more feminine option, and a long red tie to finish off the look. She stared quietly and observantly as the other humans discussed a few things amongst themselves, her face was a mask of calmness and seriousness as she observed the human leaders from several various towns and cities as they talked occasionally to her as well.

To her left sat the intimidating King of Monsters, Asgore, just as silent and regal looking as she herself appeared. His long, shaggy black hair pulled back out of his red and yellow gaze and into a long French braid down his back. The human, Frisk was her name, had suggested such a hairstyle as it allowed others to see his eyes and it made him appear a bit more approachable than he had originally been. His golden crown sat atop his black mane, indicating his status among the monsters. His crimson cape and ebony black armor had been replaced with something a little less intimidating since the two had begun trying to repair the relations between Monsters and Humans.

At Frisk’s suggestion Asgore had asked Toriel to make him a custom made suit. It was ebony black just as his armor was, made of a lightweight material similar to that of his cape. On the top left area of the suits jacket was a Delta Ruin, the symbol of the king’s people, in a gold thread that stood out from the rest of the suit as it was the only bright color on Asgore.

As the two listened to the humans speak of issues with Monster kind, Asgore ran his white, fuzzy hand over his black mustache in thought. The humans weren’t completely narrow minded but they were still hesitant to accept his people even after they had been on the surface almost a year and a half now. The weekly meetings where the humans would degrade his people or accuse them of ridiculous things were starting to wear on the King’s patience. However with Frisk’s perseverance, her determination, and her uncanny ability to defuse potentially critical situations, the human was more assistance to the king than she would ever realize. Asgore couldn’t have been happier after asking the woman to help his people once more and be their ambassador, with her natural ability to talk through things she was saving him a lot of headaches, and potentially him losing what patience he had with these humans and rekindling the wars of old all over again.

A short time later, once a lot of the complaints were smoothed over by Frisks logical thinking and counter points or by Asgore agreeing to speak with the monster culprits himself on certain situations, Frisk and Asgore left the shelter of the large building and made their way out into the city. There was a small group of people outside of the building, protesting the King and his people for trying to “take over” their city.

The group had really dwindled down since Asgore’s first meeting with the human leaders of this city and surrounding small cities and towns. Back then it had literally been a mob basically carrying pitchforks and torches hoping to force the monsters back to their “world”. The human’s violence against monsters in those first few months was pretty bad, resulting in injuries and even a few deaths. However the King had held strong against the demands that his people made of him, they had insisted that they should be allowed to kill in return. However the king refused, telling his people that killing to even the score would only result in the same problems they had encountered all those years ago. He asked his people to learn from the human that had faced the monsters hell that was the Underground and persevere and stay determined in the face of violence.

While not everyone listened to the king, the majority of his subjects at least made an effort to try to remain peaceful with the humans, although it was a difficult feat for a race that had known only “kill or be killed” for so long. Also the threat of Asgore’s Royal Guard patrolling the borders of the monster’s city had kept the humans at bay and the other monsters pacified that they would at least be protected in their own city.

As Frisk and Asgore scanned the group that had formed to protest their presents in the human city, a small group of the royal guard appeared and tried to peacefully form a path for their King and Ambassador to walk down. Undyne, leading the way through the human mob, bowed her head in greeting to Asgore. “Your Highness.” She greeted with a toothy smirk on her scaly face. The fish woman had been “upgraded” to the King’s body guard, and took the role very seriously as she wasn’t intimidated by the humans or their mobs that they formed. One well time swipe from her energy spear could send the humans falling backwards or fleeing from her, of course Frisk tried her best to remind the monster that they wanted to keep things peaceful but Undyne rarely listened to that plea on her own.

As they walked, the angry yelling and jeers of the crowd stung at Frisk’s ears as her head gave a faint throb. She was already tired from the stress of the meeting that had taken up most of the day, and now having to hear how ignorant some of her fellow humans were was tiring in itself.

“Oh look it’s the woman that would rather forsake her own people and grovel at the feet of the so called King of Monsters.” Frisk heard a voice from the crowd say.

 _“I’d rather forsake my own people than listen to any of you scared, narrow minded idiots. You don’t bother to understand the monster race and just jump right into the judgment of their kind.”_ Frisk mentally replied, her fists clenching and unclenching slightly as she pushed down the anger.

“Is she even any better than them? I mean she’s basically a monster just for helping them right?” another voice called out. Frisk inhaled deeply as she tried to ignore the sharp words.

“Heh, I bet she’s just pretending to be friendly with them so that when they decide to try to kill us all they might spare her. She’s so selfish!” yet another voice spoke amongst the crowd. That comment caused Frisk to freeze in mid step and look around for the owner of the voice. Her eyes fell on a man nearby, who didn’t look too much older than she was.

Anger clouded the woman’s gaze as she strode over to him, her eyes narrowed dangerously as he took a jump back from her sudden appearance. “You must like to pretend to be a bad ass if you can go around talking shit but then jump back in a panic when someone approaches you.” Frisk commented in a cool tone as she watched the man recover from his panic. A calm smirk lifted the corner of her mouth now, even though the depths of her green eyes were still filled with anger. “I would suggest taking your fake bravery elsewhere before you get hurt because you like to hear yourself talk.” Her tone was still cool as she stood tall in front of the man looking up at him with an unblinking gaze.

A heavy hand rested on Frisk’s shoulder as she glanced back to see Asgore’s calm gaze on her. “Ambassador, let’s go.” His strong voice commanded as he directed her away from the possible fight and towards the two cars the waited to take them home. Frisk didn’t argue, that tone was one that meant it was not open for argument. Signaling to the driver that was here to pick up Frisk to give them a moment, Asgore lead  Frisk to the car that would be taking him back to his castle like home and set her in the back seat before sitting next to her.

“I’m sorry Asgore. I should have just kept ignoring them but…” Frisk hesitated as a frown crossed her features and her eyes were cast downwards.

“It’s bound to happen Frisk. However, you must keep your cool and not let their words get the better of you. Do you need to talk?” the king offered as his gaze slid gently over to the human beside him. She gave her head a shake.

“I’m fine. It’s just been a long day for us and I let them get under my skin is all.” Frisk explained in a quiet tone as she looked to the king now who gave a nod of acceptance at her explanation. It had indeed been a long day, and he couldn’t forget that if he was as tired as he felt then Frisk very well could be exhausted.

“Very well. Please relax tonight. Should you not feel up to doing Toriel’s diplomat lesson tomorrow just give one of us a call. You are very important… to all of us, and I don’t want you to exhaust yourself too badly.” Asgore replied as he made a motion with his hand and the car door opened for Frisk to exit.

“Thank you Asgore. I should be fine but if for some reason I’m not I’ll let one of you two know.” Frisk replied bowing her head respectfully to the king as she got out of his car. He acted very much like a father to Frisk, but as much as she wanted to treat him as such, the King’s soul was still healing. To push him over the edge again by stirring up old, painful memories wouldn’t be good. “Thank you.” She spoke again this time a gentle smile on her features as she looked at the king.

Asgore blinked his red eyes at the human a moment before a slight smile crossed his maw, his long fangs glistened slightly in the setting sunlight. “You are welcome Frisk.” He replied in his deep tone looking at the woman as she exited the car. He was grateful for her natural ability to be calm and happy as it made his broken soul feel just the slightest bit lighter now that he had allowed her to get past his defenses.

The door to the kings car closed behind her and Frisk saw the ever intimidating Undyne staring down at her with her toothy smirk. “Heh, have a ‘GREAT’ night punk! I know I had a fricken blast today.” Undyne spoke in a mocking tone to the human.

Frisk arched a brow as she looked at the fish woman suspiciously. Usually on the day of the meetings when Papyrus was given the day off from his rounds Sans normally took his place. Undyne and Alphys were known for giving Sans a hard time, but usually it wasn’t anything the shorter skeleton couldn’t handle. Usually, for the sake of his brother’s love for being in the Royal Guard, he kept himself on his best behavior when dealing with the two of them since Undyne was still considered the captain of the king’s guard. Frisk walked away not bothering to respond to Undyne so that she didn’t cause trouble.

Frisk walked towards the bright red car that would take her home. She had her license and was perfectly able to drive herself however her self appointed body guard was insistent on driving her home from these things. Asgore and Toriel hadn’t argued as they felt with the stress Frisk was under after these meetings it might be better if she had someone who could take her home.

Getting into the passenger front seat, Frisk gave a deep sigh as she sunk deeply into the seat. Sitting beside her was the skeleton, Papyrus. His appearance hadn’t changed much since the days of the Underground, aside from his clothing ever so slightly. Rather than sporting his battle armor the skeleton had chosen to wear a tight, black undershirt with sleeves that ended just above the elbow and the bottom was tucked into his pants, and a black leather vest that zipped up to the top of his sternum and came down just below his rib cage. It was decorated with a yellow delta symbol on the front top left area of the vest. He still wore his signature red scarf and red battle gloves. His pants were a black, jean like material held up with a belt that had a Gaster Blaster belt buckle. The pant legs were tucked into his tall, red boots.

“ARE YOU ALRIGHT LADY FRISK?” the skeleton asked with a slight hint of worry in his tone as his sharp, red gaze drifted to the human who sat with her eyes closed. Frisk opened her eyes and looked over at the taller skeleton with a slight smile.

“Yeah Papy I’m fine… I’m just… I’m tired is all; it’s been a long day.” Frisk replied in a gentle voice as she looked at the skeleton. She ran her hand over her face inhaling deeply as she stared up at the roof of Papyrus’s car. The skeleton said no more as the engine roared to life and they headed for home, a house he, Frisk, and Sans all had taken up residence at in the bustling monster city of Mountain Home.

As the radio played quietly in the background, Frisk found herself drifting off into the delicate twilight of sleep. Her memories from the past playing out in the dreamscape she had drifted off to.

~*~*~*~*~

_Frisk panted slightly as she approached the small town of Snowdin. She was starting to get tired… starting to feel like she was walking in circles. What RESET was this again? 9? 10? One of those two, she had almost lost count, however doing the RESET’s was the only way to get to the happy ending the monsters of the Underground deserved... it was the only way she was going to get close enough to Sans, or Red as she had nicknamed him, in order to make everything work out okay._

_“Maybe he’ll listen this time… just maybe… he can teach me what I want to know. I know he’s curious why I won’t just escape and leave things as they are, Asgore won’t listen to me when I try to do things peacefully, and he’d rather… kill himself, 8 or 9 times now he’s done it. I know I can save him though, and it all begins with saving Toriel from her self imposed exile.” Frisk muttered softly to herself as she looked around the small, snowy town._

_~*~*~*~*~_

_The image grew fuzzy and Frisk found herself in the Judgment Hall once more standing before a shorter skeleton with blazing ruby red eyes that seemed to bore into her soul, as if searching for something. His heavy black winter jacket clung to his frame, as he kept his skeletal hands tucked into his pockets. He wore black pants with yellow stripes down the outside of the legs, and black and red sneakers on his feet. A long, crimson red, sleeveless shirt was worn beneath the skeletons coat. A few rips and tears adorned the shirt as “souvenirs” from other monsters that had a beef with the shorter skeleton._

_“Back again, Doll? Aren’t ya sick of this game? Sick of the RESETS? What are ya trying to accomplish by continuing to come back here, Doll?” The skeleton spoke in a deep sounding tone as he locked his red eyes with the human’s green ones. She felt a slight chill crawl down her spine, the stare was… different from before. There was something… an emotion, or something, just beneath the surface of those red eyes but it was still hidden from the human’s sight._

_“Red… I keep telling you why I keep coming back. There’s a happy ending here, and I’ve figured out what I need to do but… I need your help Red. This is something only you and Papy can help me with.” Frisk spoke in a calm tone as her eyes never wavered from the skeleton in front of her. She couldn’t show him fear, she had learned that he fed off of that emotion._

_Sans tilted his head back and let out a loud, sarcastic sounding laugh that echoed in the hall around the two, Frisk had asked Flowey to wait outside the hall this time so it could just be her and Sans, one on one. The skeleton looked at her now still chuckling under his breath as his smirk lifted the corner of his mouth, his gold tooth gleaming in the light that filtered through the large windows of the ebony and gold colored hall. “That’s rich. The all mighty human savior is asking for a monsters help?! Alright, I’ll bite Doll. What the hell kind of plan do ya need my fucking help with? I mean I’ve done nothing but find ways to make sure ya get killed throughout all these timelines but hey, I’m a reasonable monster so I’ll at least listen before we go through this fight again.” The skeleton spoke in a mocking tone as he gave the woman a dark smirk._

_“I… I need to learn how to use my soul’s determination to heal a broken soul. I need to learn how to use my soul power to grab a monsters soul… and transfer energy from my soul to another’s” Frisk replied to Sans’s words hesitantly. The skeleton was silent as he blinked his eye sockets at the woman before a low rumbling chuckle came from his throat before it was released into a full blown laugh that echoed around them once more._

_“Seriously?! That’s your fucking plan? Are ya stupid? Give me one god damn reason why I should teach ya how to do THAT? I mean I got a counter argument of ya potentially using that power against ME!” Sans replied as he held his ribs after recovering from his laughing fit._

_“You’ll do it because you’re curious Red. You’ve always let me get this far but not without causing me some kind of hell. These past 2 or 3 RESETS I’ve noticed you seem curious why I keep doing this, or maybe you’re curious whether or not I can do it. So you’ve been easing up just a bit, just to see… to see if I’ll be back.” Frisk replied issuing a smirk of her own as she kept her eyes on the skeleton who frowned slightly at her words now. “What if I give you my word I won’t use the power against you, Red? I just need to be able to heal Toriel’s and Asgore’s soul and I think my plan will work.” Frisk offered in a low tone._

_Rather than giving an answer, a wave of bones was shot the human’s way as she reacted as quickly as she could to avoid the attack before she felt the cold grip of his magic on her soul as he stared at her with blazing eye sockets now. “Beat Asgore again this time, finish this run… then, if ya think ya got the ‘guts’, RESET and come find me in Snowdin. Heh if you’re that determined we can… make a deal… let’s see how determined ya REALLY are human!” and with that the world around Frisk faded to black._

_~*~*~*~*~_

_The world seemed to fade in around Frisk again as another memory came back to her. She was in front of the Snowdin sign once again looking around as she held Flowey in her arms in a wood bucket filled with soil. “Where would Red be? I assume this is another little game of his since I haven’t seen him since Papy figured out I was a human. It’s a game to see if I’m willing to go the distance even when he’s not there, which I did for Papy’s sake. Now he’s hiding though, and I have to go and play this little game of cat and mouse with him.” Frisk muttered to herself as she looked around the small town._

_“I’m still not sure this is a good idea Frisk. You can’t exactly trust that damn skeleton, how do you know he’ll even keep his word?!” Flowey grumbled slightly as they went. Frisk had explained her plan to the monster before she had RESET the last time. He wasn’t exactly ecstatic about the situation._

_“As bad as he is, Red always keeps his promises, he always has. His word is something he’s never once broken during all the RESETS Flowey. I trust him to keep his word because of that.” Frisk replied to her friend as she made her way into Snowdin._

_The woman walked to Grillbyz bar and peered in through the window, there sat the skeleton as calm as ever at the bar. He had a bottle of mustard in his hand as he waited; wondering if the human would show up. Frisk inhaled deeply and walked into the bar, ignoring the intimidating stares from the other patrons as she walked up and sat down next to Sans who gave a slight chuckle. The woman set Flowey’s bucket gently on the counter as she remained silent, while the flower glared angrily at Sans._

_“Well, Doll, I see ya finally made it here.” Sans spoke in his normal sarcastic sounding tone, he didn’t bother to look at the human beside him._

_“Yeah Red, I did. I was serious when I asked for your help. So… you gonna owe up to your part of the first deal and talk with me? Or are we playing another game of cat and mouse?” Frisk asked as she sat staring ahead with her hands folded together on the counter._

_“Heh, this is why I don’t make promises. They’ll get me into trouble. Alright Doll… let’s make a deal. Let’s say I DO help ya out and teach ya how to do what ya want to do… what do I get out of this deal?” the skeleton replied as he spared Frisk a glance of his red pinprick gaze._

_“Of course…” Frisk muttered softly, mostly to herself, before facing the skeleton, looking at him with a calm expression on her face. She should have known that he wanted to get something out of this deal, he would never have agreed to help her if he didn’t think he would get something in exchange for his help. “What do you want in exchange for helping me Red? I’m not in the mood to play guessing games, so give me a direct response. Please?” The woman asked in a soft tone as she tried to figure out what he wanted._

_Sans gave a slightly louder laugh as he took a sip of the mustard in his hand before facing Frisk now, his red gaze boring into hers. “Getting tired there, Doll? I guess it’s to be expected, every time ya do those RESETS it takes ya about six months at least to get to Asgore because of all the monsters out to getchya. You’ve done this what, 10 or 11 damn times now? It’s just a good thing the RESETS reset your age too otherwise you’d be in trouble.” The skeleton chuckled slightly at the thought of all the trouble she had gone through._

_Frisk’s determination intrigued him from the start. However before the first RESET, after the human had watched Asgore impale himself with his own weapon to prove that he was still stronger than the human, he thought she had learned that it truly was kill or be killed here. However she RESET the timeline and came back, doing things the exact same way, being that sickeningly sweet and nice to the monsters. To him. Sans knew he didn’t deserve that since he had made the last timeline a fucking hell for her but… she still regarded him with the same kindness as the first time. She tried to talk to him, though he refused her help._

_The human’s determination did more than intrigue him though, he felt… something… after going through all these timelines with her. Although Sans would never openly admit that. Shoving his thoughts to the back of his mind, the skeleton smirked at Frisk. “Alright, two conditions I want your word on if ya do manage to save all us monsters thanks to mine and the Boss’s help. Firstly ya don’t use this ability against either of us… ever.” He said bluntly looking at the human._

_“I already know that Red, I’m the one who made that promise to begin with remember? I agree that I will not use it against either one of you two ever. What’s the second condition?” Frisk asked starting to feel a bit impatient as she worked hard to keep her tone calm._

_“Heh. Ya sound impatient. That excited to get into this with me Doll?” The skeleton snickered as he took another sip of his mustard. “The second condition is that ya give me your word that you’ll be my subordinate for as long as I want. I’ve always like the idea of being someone’s Boss for a change. Not that I don’t enjoy seeing my bro happy, but no one really shows me much respect since I’m just feared by association with the Boss.” His deep, sarcastic tone held a faint hint of  interest to it as he shifted his red eyes back to the woman whose green eyes had grown wide in shock at the request, Flowey too stared wide eyed at the skeleton with his mouth hanging open after hearing his request . Resisting the urge to burst into laughter at the look on her face he waited in silence, his wide toothy grin showing off the pointed gold tooth he had._

_“W-what… exactly would th-that mean? I m-m-mean what would I have to… do for you, exactly?” Frisk stuttered in disbelief her calm demeanor fleeing her in place of shock at the request._

_“Oh my god Frisk! Don’t seriously consider that! You’re being an idiot! Do you have any idea just what he COULD be considering asking of you if you agree to this?!” Flowey shrieked as he turned himself to face the human now. He was stunned she would even consider such a thing._

_“Flowey… enough… please…” Frisk spoke to him in a soft tone wanting to comfort him, but knowing there was little she could do at the same time since they were both thinking the worst about this idea. The flower monster opened and closed his mouth a few times at the human before giving a little huff of frustration and crossing his leaves angrily._

_“Haven’t really thought that far tibia honest, but if ya don’t want my help that’s fine too. I don’t have a problem leaving ya high and dry, and ya can fight your way through more timelines.” Sans replied in a calm tone as he hopped off his chair, tucking his hands into the pockets of his coat._

_“W-wait! Okay, okay fine! I… I agree that if you help me out I will…” Frisk paused; her words were caught in her throat as panic filled her soul. “I will be… your… subordinate, Red.” She choked out the words as her calm mask broke for a moment and she glared at the skeleton who was forcing her hand now, knowing that she needed his help badly in order to give everyone their happy ending. “However I REFUSE to kill anyone for you. I won’t let you use me like that.” Frisk had her own condition to set if he was serious about that. She watched as Sans looked back over his shoulder and smirked darkly at her while giving a chuckle. He held out his hand arching an eye socket as he did._

_“I wasn’t planning anything like that, but I guess better safe than sorry right? Alright, I won’t use ya to kill anyone. Let’s shake on it then, to… uh… seal the deal I guess.” Sans’s smirk widened as he waited for Frisk to shake his hand. The woman had learned to be skeptical of his handshake over the course of the timelines, looking at him with a suspicious stare the woman’s hesitance was rewarded with another slight chuckle. “No ‘joy buzzers’, I promise Doll. Just what ya would call a ‘gentleman’s’ agreement.”_

_Frisk took a deep breath before quickly standing to her feet. She extended her hand taking his in hers as she firmly gave his hand a shake to seal her fate. Frisk bit back a gasp of surprise as red magic wound up her arm quickly gripping her soul in its tendrils. She felt the cold grip of Sans’s magic on her soul as she arched a brow at the skeleton, who stood grinning at her with a calm look in his red gaze. She could see her own souls blue magic winding up his arm and gripping his soul as well. Suddenly the magic vanished though the cold chill still gripped her soul. “Heh… thanks t o my magic you’re bound to your promises, and I’m bound to mine. So don’t think about running off if ya get to the surface because your plan works, Doll. I’ll be able to find ya no matter how far ya run, or where ya hide.” Sans informed the woman as he broke their handshake, a wicked grin flashing widely at Frisk as he did._

_Frisk felt herself frozen in place as his red gaze blazed wickedly at her, the same…something… that was hidden beneath the surface of his gaze before had returned as he stared unblinkingly at the woman. Frisk felt as though she had just been punched in the gut as she tried to control her rapid breathing. If only she had been aware what she was getting herself into. The red eyes haunted her mind as the world around her fading to black, the burning gaze being the last thing she saw._

~*~*~*~*~

 Frisk’s eyes snapped open as she felt the car she had been riding in come to a stop. “GOOD TIMING HUMAN! WE HAVE JUST ARRIVED HOME!” Papyrus spoke as he pulled the car into the garage next to the house. Frisk’s soul still felt chilled from her dream as she looked around her breathing heavily as she felt panic well up in her heart. Closing her eyes again, Frisk tried to control her breathing and the heavy beating of her heart in her chest.

“T-thank you for the ride home Papy.” Frisk spoke in a strained tone as she opened the door and stood, a bit shakily, to her feet. “I… I might be a little late when I come to help you with dinner. I… need to rest for a little bit before I start working on Red’s chores he has for me.” Frisk spoke in slightly shaken tone as she still recalled the vivid memory in her mind.

Papyrus was silent for a moment as he looked the human up and down with a knowing stare. While he might have been known as the Terrible Papyrus at one time, he wasn’t quite so terrible now days especially after meeting and getting to know Frisk. He had felt concern for the human upon learning that she and his brother had made a deal that involved her working for Sans. Mostly due to the fact that Frisk was already under a lot of stress as it was being the diplomatic peace keeper between humans and monsters, but then add having Sans bossing her around, insisting he could because of the deal, was bound to wear the human down. Also if Asgore caught wind of their deal Papyrus worried about his majesty punishing his brother for his ignorance and betrayal.

In his worry the taller skeleton insisted that if Sans was going to keep the human as a “pet”, then he, The Terrible Papyrus, should be allowed to have the human assist him as well. It was a measure he would take to gauge how the human’s health was before she was to the point of exhaustion and illness, that way he could intervene between the two. Lately however Frisk seemed to be capable of handling both workloads, so Papyrus had stopped worrying about the situation. Today however it appeared that Frisk was at a breaking point.

“DO NOT WORRY HUMAN! I, THE TERRIBLE PAPYRUS, CAN TAKE CARE OF DINNER ON MY OWN TONIGHT. FEEL FREE TO GET TO THE CHORES WHEN YOU ARE ABLE, AND IF THAT LAZY SACK OF BONES THAT IS MY BROTHER GIVES YOU TOO MUCH TROUBLE, COME FIND ME AND I WILL TAKE CARE OF HIM.” Papyrus placed his hands on his hips as he spoke looking at Frisk with a slight smirk.

“Oh. Alright Papy. I’ll be happy to come down and help though. I just need a half hour break is all.” Frisk blinked her eyes at the skeleton. He was quite a bit nicer to her than he had once been; perhaps in the back of his mind he remembered the past timelines as well. Regardless she hated taking advantage of the fact that he was actually being nicer.

Papyrus didn’t bother to reply to her as he had said what he needed to. What she did was her choice either way but he had given her an option. If she was too stubborn to take some time for herself then that was her choice. With several quick strides the skeleton made his way to the front door and unlocked it for the two so they could enter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: If you're more of a fan of the original Undertale then you may not really enjoy this story quite as much. This story will have a darker atmosphere to it. Violence, swearing, potentially suggestive content, and darker themes are just a few things to mention. Basically put it won't be a bunch of sunshine and rainbows. Also I will be referring to Sans as Red throughout the story as that's the nickname I gave him.

Frisk’s green gaze flickered open as she stared at the ceiling of her room now. “Can’t fall asleep…” she muttered in a soft tone as she stretched her arms over her head before sitting up with a slight sigh. Looking around the room with a tired gaze, a faint smile lifted the corner of her mouth slightly. Despite being bound by her deal she made with Red, at the end of exhausting days like this one she definitely didn’t view the room as a prison, but more like a sanctuary from her more tiring responsibilities.

Standing to her feet after enjoying her peace for a short time, Frisk quickly changed her suit coat and shirt out for something more comfortable to do her chores in. The woman pulled a black sweater with red stripes over her head, pushing her arms through the long sleeves that came down past her hands before she pushed them back up to her forearms. She pulled a pair of dark blue jean pants from her dresser and quickly changed out of her dress pants before glancing at her reflection in the mirror. Satisfied with her appearance, the woman left the comfort of her room.

Frisk slowed her walk as she paused outside of Red’s door. She hadn’t heard the skeleton come back yet, but it was possible he had gotten here before her and Papyrus had. The woman knocked on the door and stayed silent to see if she could hear any movement inside. “Red? Are you in there?” Frisk asked in a soft tone. Once she received no answer, the woman opened the door to Red’s room and walked in.

Frisk gave a slight sigh as she frowned glancing around her now. Sometimes she swore that the shorter skeleton kept his room in disarray just to keep her busy on the days she cleaned up his room. The small tornado of garbage that somehow managed to exist in the corner of his room was becoming a normal sight for the woman. Rubbing her temple in frustration, Frisk glanced at the floor where Red had left a graveyard of dirty clothing scattered throughout the room. Whatever was supposed to be on the bed had managed to migrate its way to the floor as well. “Damn it Red.” She cursed softly under her breath as she tried to figure out just where to start in the disaster area that was once a bedroom.

~*~*~*~

Frisk brushed a few loose strands of hair behind her ear as she gave a slight huff and sat down on Red’s now made bed. She glanced at the full laundry basket at the end of the bed beside a trash bag filled full with random garbage that had been the foundation of the garbage tornado. She pulled her phone out to check the time and gave a slight smirk. “Heh… he’s gotta try harder I guess. That took about an hour, probably up there with my best time.” The woman commented as she stood to her feet and grabbed the garbage bag and the laundry basket to take down with her.

The woman closed the washer lid and started the machine up as she put the laundry basket on top of the dryer. She was just considering what to do while the laundry was being washed and dried when the front door slammed closed loudly. Giving a slight jump in surprise the woman tucked back around the corner of the door frame. The reaction was mostly from her time spent in the Underground since anything loud and threatening usually meant it was time to keep out of sight, especially when Red was involved.

“SANS! I’VE TOLD YOU BEFORE NOT TO GO AROUND BREAKING OUR DOORS! IF YOU’RE GOING TO THROW ONE OF YOUR RIDICULOUS TEMPERTANTRUMS THEN DO IT ON YOUR OWN DOOR AND NOT THE ENTRANCE DOOR!” Papyrus’s could be heard yelling from the kitchen.

“Piss off Papyrus…” Red grumbled in a drained sounding tone, he didn’t really have the energy or the patience to deal with his brother right now. Frisk held her breath as she heard the shorter skeleton breath heavily as he made his way up the stairs, a small frown gracing her features as she listened silently.

A second loud slam could be heard above her as Red entered his bedroom. “SANS!!!” the younger skeleton yelled angrily at his brother’s blatant disrespect. Frisk bit her lip in worry as she glanced above her recalling what Undyne had said to her outside of Asgore’s car about today being a “blast”.

“Red normally would have teleported directly to his room to avoid Papy giving him grief. Undyne might have given him trouble today while they were out patrolling, if Alphys decided to accompany the fish woman he might have been double teamed too. It might be more than him just being tired if he didn’t just teleport to his room.” Frisk muttered quietly to herself as she debated what to do. Her good conscience wouldn’t let her just ignore the fact that there might be something wrong with the skeleton.

The woman took a deep breath before making her way up the stairs. She paused hesitantly at Red’s door as she stared at it for a moment before taking a breath and knocking gently on the door. “Red? Can I come in?” Frisk asked in a gentle tone, waiting for a reply. When he didn’t answer Frisk held her breath as she opened the door and walked in.

“Red?” Frisk spoke in a hesitant tone. She saw the skeleton visibly wince at her voice as she saw him lying on his bed. His sharp teeth grinded together slightly in irritation as he had his right hand placed over his right eye socket while he laid there. “Are… are you alright?” the woman asked in a soft tone as she took a few steps towards him.

“Leave.” His deep baritone voice barked in irritation as he heard the woman’s approaching footsteps. His intimidation would have worked on almost anyone, but Frisk knew him better than most monsters did. Frisk could barely hear a small hint of pain in the skeletons tone as he tried to push her away. The woman stood frozen in place for a moment as she gathered her determination before speaking to him again.

“Red, what happened?” Frisk asked as concern leaked into her neutral tone. She stared at the skeleton as he refused to answer her, his rib cage rising and falling in his habitual motion of breathing. The breaths he was taking sounded a bit strained and raspy as he stayed where he was, he didn’t want to move or respond to her. Worry entered her gaze now as she watched his chest rise and fall shakily. The woman walked forward, closer to the bed now.

“Damn it!” his intimidating voice yelled loudly in the silence of the room. Frisk gasped as she was frozen in place, Red’s magic griping her soul tightly. With a quick motion of his right hand she was thrown backwards against the door, her head connecting with the wood behind her painfully. “I. SAID. FUCKING. LEAVE!” the shorter skeleton snapped in an angry, harsh tone as he sat up wile pressing Frisk forcefully against the door, his red eyes blazed angrily in his eye sockets.

Frisk’s eyes were scrunched shut as she gave a faint groan while the back of her head throbbed angrily from the contact with the door. She forced her eyes open as she went to glare at the skeleton in front of her now, however her glare turned into a wide eyed stare as she felt her anger dim to a simmer when she saw Red. Just above his right eye socket was a deep impact crack that spider webbed outwards from where he had been struck with… something. It obviously hadn’t been a fatal attack or he would have been dust by now, but all the same it appeared to cause the skeleton pain as he visibly winced again while using his magic.

“Red! Stop it now!” The woman couldn’t keep her voice neutral as she became concerned with the state he was in. “You’re hurting yourself too by doing this!” she tried to talk some common sense into the hot headed skeleton as his magical grip on her soul tightened slightly causing her to wince as well. As sweat began to bead his skull it was obvious just using this much magic was taking all his concentration. “I-if you don’t stop… I might not be able to help you…” Frisk said in a low tone as her green gaze tried to plead with Red.

 _“Heh… there she goes pretending to ‘care’ again. She’s almost damn convincing too, but I ain’t fallin’ for that bull shit act. That’s all it is since she ain’t got a reason to actually care about me.”_ The corner of his mouth lifted in a slightly cynical smirk before he felt a sharp pain shoot through his skull. “Rahh!” Red groaned in pain as his magic wavered from his lack of concentration before disappearing completely. The skeleton stumbled slightly as he placed his boney hand over his injured eye socket, he slumped against the side of the bed before sinking to the floor. “Fuck… that hurts…” he muttered in a slightly incoherent voice as the throb of a headache rattled his skull.

Frisk felt herself fall to the floor as his magic waned. Running her hand against the back of her head the woman winced as she felt the tender spot where her head had connected with the door. Giving her head a slight shake she returned her attention to Red whose eye sockets had grown dark as he wavered on the verge of unconsciousness. _“His HP must be dropping quickly if he’s struggling to keep conscious. It’s a good thing he has extra HP from sleeping, but I don’t know if it will be enough.”_ The woman realized quickly as she stared at him for a moment.

Unable to suppress her urge to help someone in trouble, Frisk stood to her feet and closed the distance between the two quickly. “Red… please… let me help you.” She spoke in a low tone kneeling down beside his slumped form now as she pleaded with him. Thankfully he was in such a bad state that he wasn’t able to argue with her at this point.

Closing her eyes, Frisk focused on drawing on her soul power, a feat that was rather difficult now that they were out of the Underground. The Core had been able to amplify her own powers making it easier for her to use her newly awakened soul power while there. Here on the surface however it was a drain to even muster up the energy. Scrunching her eyes closed tightly Frisk tried to focus her magic into her palm finding it hard to do as her heart pounded loudly in her ears. Then she felt it, the warm, fuzzy sensation forming in her palm that indicated she had managed to draw up enough soul power to use healing magic.

Opening her eyes, which now appeared to have a faint blue glow, she tried to keep her concentration on her magic while her heart thudded from worry. Frisk gently placed her left hand on the back of his skull and tilted it forward slightly while her right hand that held her light blue magic hovered over the crack. She began using her magic to heal the skeleton when his red pinprick gaze flickered back to life in his eye sockets. With the pain lessened a little now he was able to keep himself conscious, and he was pissed that his subordinate was still disobeying him after his order to get out. Not only that but she was healing him, unknowingly causing him look weak to the monsters that had been the cause of his injury, it would be more impressive and intimidating if he sported the crack until it healed on its own and it might convince others not to fuck with him.

Red gave a slight growl as his red pupils flared with anger and his right hand caught the woman’s soul once again. Frisk gasped as she felt herself frozen in place before her hand was forcibly lowered to her side, her concentration broken and her magic gone now. “W-wait…” she whispered feeling a familiar fear begin to creep into her mind despite her efforts to keep it at bay.

“Heh, ya just don’t learn, do ya Doll? I gave ya an order and ya willingly disobeyed me.” The shorter skeleton growled as he arched an eye socket at the woman standing to his feet now as she remained frozen in place. He tucked his left hand into his jacket pocket as his right remained outstretched holding Frisk in place before forcing her to stand to her feet as well as she gave an uncomfortable groan from the force he was exerting on her. The skeleton circled around her frozen form now. “Ya know I’m a pretty reasonable guy, don’tchya Doll? I…FEEL like I’ve been pretty reasonable.” As he said that his magic pushed Frisk back against his door once more with a loud thud, this time making sure she didn’t hit her head. He didn’t want to give her a concussion after all.

“R-Red… I…”Frisk tried to speak but felt his magic grip tighten on her soul now the heart shaped life force was pulled from her body now, hovering just in front of her chest with a bright blue glow. The woman tried to breathe but found the grip Red had on her caused a sharp pain to shoot through her body at the simple movement of breathing, effectively rendering her lungs useless at the moment. She saw black spots begin to form in her vision and the world around her grew blurry. Frisk coughed slightly from the lack of air to her lungs.

“Come on Doll. Ya know what I’m waitin’ for. Ya know better than to disobey an order I give ya, and ya know what I expect when ya do.” Red’s low tone called out from the oxygen deprived haze that clouded her mind. Another round of coughing came from the woman as her hands instinctively rose to her chest to try to stop the grip, even though it wasn’t physically there.

 _“You should back down. You know what provoking him dose…”_ a faint, familiar voice whispered quietly to her with a hint of smugness in its tone. “I’m sorry Boss!” Frisk croaked in a strained tone, it wasn’t very loud but enough for Red to hear her. Loosening his hold on her soul so she could breathe again the skeleton walked forward and grabbed her chin with his free hand as he stared at the woman with a malicious glint in his red gaze, his grin widening slightly into a predatory smirk.

“What was that Doll? I couldn’t quite hear ya. Go on and say it again.” His tone sounded slightly teasing as he watched her narrow her eyes at him as a rush of anger filled her before she pushed it down. He enjoyed seeing her lose her cool and because of this he tried to push her buttons to trigger her anger and frustration.

“I’m sorry I disobeyed you Boss.” She muttered not meeting his gaze as her wounded pride was still somewhat intact. She felt him give a slightly forceful squeeze of her chin redirecting her gaze to him.

“And?” Red looked at the human expectantly. His head was starting to throb again from over exerting himself but he wanted to make sure the human had been paying attention to what he was saying this time.

Frisk blinked her eyes as he really pushed her pride this time, she would have to abandon it unless she wanted to pass out from lack of oxygen. “You… you’ve been very reasonable with me. I… promise I’ll listen to you, Boss.” She muttered in a low tone throwing what was left of her pride away as her shoulders sagged slightly after she spoke.

“Heh, what a good human ya are. I knew ya could listen with the right motivation. Hopefully ya learned your place this time.” The skeleton’s grin widened into a smirk as he released her soul, letting her drop to the floor as he walked back towards his bed listening as she inhaled greedy gulps of air. Stopping, he glanced over his shoulder, his eye socket narrowed slightly. “Now get the hell outta my room, b’fore I lose my patience with ya.” Red spoke in a dark tone indicating that they were done here.

Frisk looked up at him from her spot on the floor, taking deep breaths as her eyes narrowed slightly. Standing to her feet her fists were clenched tightly at her sides as she stared at him before turning quickly on her heel, leaving the room as she slammed his door behind her. “Stupid asshole.” Frisk muttered in a dark tone as she hastily made her way downstairs. _“Hehehe, aww did the skeleton piss off little miss pacifist? See? Wouldn’t it have just been easier to kill him once you got what you wanted from him?”_ a voice whispered in the back of her mind. “Shut up.” Frisk snapped angrily in a low tone as she made her way down to the first floor. “I’ll be back later Papy!” the woman called in a heated tone over her shoulder as she flung open the front door before slamming it behind her.

A loud thud that sounded suspiciously like a fist going through a wall came from the kitchen. “IF ONE MORE PERSON OR MONSTER SLAMS A DOOR IN THIS HOUSE, YOU WILL ALL COME TO REGRET TESTING MY PATIENCE TODAY!!” Papyrus yelled angrily from the kitchen as his temper was reaching its boiling point as well.

~*~*~*~

Frisk moved quickly through the monster town of Mountain Home, heading towards the outskirts of the area. The makeshift path that was worn down from the constant travel over it led back towards Mt. Ebbot’s base. However rather than following the path, once outside of the town, Frisk veered off to the right where there was no path to follow. The woman didn’t need a path though; she had traveled this way often enough to know where she was going now, and the other monsters that made their home in the town rarely came this way since it was so close to the mountain and out of the way of the town. There was one monster that came out this way often though; he often enjoyed taking time to appreciate the beauty of the surface world since his time in the Underground was a literal hell thanks to his small size.

Making her way through the underbrush of the thinly wooded area Frisk saw an open field before her that lead to a straight drop off about 30 feet high. It was the perfect area to see sunsets and enjoy some quiet time away from the troubles of daily life. Frisk smiled slightly as she saw a lone golden flower in the middle of the field swaying back and forth slightly even though there was no breeze. “It’s a good day to see the sunset. The sky is nice and clear today.” Frisk commented in a soft tone as if talking to herself. However at her words the flower turned slightly to face her staring at her with a pair of black eyes that stared at the woman questioningly.

“Yeah, it’s nice I guess. I’m surprised; you don’t normally come out after spending all day in those meetings.” The flower cocked his head questioningly as Frisk approached. “Was it that easy of a day for the all mighty ambassador?” His tone turned slightly sarcastic as he turned back to face the direction the sun was starting to set in when the human sat down next to him. Frisk gave her head a slight shake as she sat down giving a tired sigh.

“It’s nice to see you too Azzy.” The woman replied in a slightly sarcastic tone. Her anger had subsided during her trip out here but she was still irritated and was not necessarily in the mood to deal with sarcasm from her friend. “I won’t lie, it wasn’t the best day ever being ambassador today.” She replied drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her elbows on them. The flower glanced at her with a stoic gaze as he observed the human.

“I’ve gathered that from how stressed out you look. Why not just stay home though? I mean watching sunsets is supposed to be relaxing I guess but sleeping would probably be best.” The flower commented in a dry tone as he observed the woman. Flowey knew Frisk for longer than any monster, even Sans, and with the resets it just increased the time they spent together even though no time actually passed. Because of this he had learned a lot about Frisk and right now even though she appeared calm it was a strained calm that was forced.

“Heh… probably but… I just wanted to see the sunset today.” Frisk forced a slight chuckle as she spoke, avoiding looking at the flower. The woman didn’t want to bother that ex-prince with her troubles but he was probably the only monster who didn’t go out of their way to intimidate her aside from Asgore or Toriel. She saw Flowey look at her now and arch a brow in disbelief as he frowned. “Being at home… wasn’t any better than work today.” Frisk finally admitted something breaking her fake happiness for the time being.

“Frisk… don’t tell me. Did that psychotic smiley trash bag give you hell AGAIN?!” Flowey’s loud tone turned accusing as his sharp gaze bored into the woman. She blinked her eyes at the gaze before looking away forcing a slight smile as she tried to tuck herself further down behind her knees.

“Red had a rough day too, Azzy.” Frisk reasoned in a gentle tone as she stared ahead at the now setting sun. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the flower run a leafy “hand” over his face at her words. “I think Undyne and Alphys really screwed with him today, he has a deep crack over his right eye socket. He was being stubborn and not letting me help him because of his pride…” The woman muttered in a quiet tone trying to stay positive about what had just happened.

“UGH! Frisk! Are you really that stupid? It has nothing to do with his damn pride! He’s just an asshole! He’s a psychotic, sadistic asshole!” Flowey shrieked in irritation as he glared at the woman beside him. His leaves were balled up into tiny fists as he continued on with his rant. “It’s no different than how he was in the Underground! Trust me, I know! He’s always been like that! You need to stop trying to change someone who WON’T change damn it!” the flower managed to get his voice back down to a normal level by the end of his rant as he inhaled deeply trying to regain his composure.

Frisk stared at the flower waiting for him to calm down; she was long since used to the random rants Flowey tended to go on, especially about how stupid she sounded. Frisk grew quiet but a small sad smile crept onto her features as she stared at the sun. “You can’t say I don’t deserve this a little bit though Azzy…” she finally broke the silence by uttering her quiet words as she avoided looking at the flower.

Flowey was left temporarily speechless, something that was quite rare for the flower monster. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before giving a slight sigh, staring with a hard glare at the human. “Damn it Frisk!” he said in an exasperated tone. “I don’t think you should have subjected yourself to your own personal purgatory thank you very much! You’re… being an idiot by thinking that you deserve this.” Flowey replied in an irritated tone as he crossed his leaves over one another and stared ahead with a glare at the sunset in front of them.

A slight chuckle escaped the woman, but it sounded humorless and dry. It was the only response she gave the flower since she didn’t have the energy to argue. The use of her soul power earlier was starting to catch up with her and she was starting to feel fatigued now that her adrenalin wore off. As the sun finished setting and darkness began to stretch across the world, Frisk gave a slight sigh and stood to her feet. “Papy hates it when I’m too late for dinner. I should be getting back now that everything’s probably calmed down.” The woman spoke in a gentle tone as she looked to Flowey with a smile. “Do you want to come? Papy usually doesn’t mind if you show up, just as long as you don’t give him any lip about his spaghetti.” Frisk offered.

“No. I have to go report to Asgore and Toriel about the state of the borders of Mountain Town.  Thankfully everything was peaceful today while you and Asgore were at the meeting.” The flower shook his head staring at the human before giving a sigh. “I’ll see you at the castle tomorrow though right?” Flowey asked with a tilt of his head.

“Maybe. After everything that happened today Asgore gave me the option to take tomorrow off if I need to rest. I may take that opportunity, since I rarely get breaks.” Frisk explained as her face grew thoughtful as she considered the option.

“Huh. That’s a rare treat isn’t it? Well maybe I’ll stop by the skeledork’s house tomorrow then if you don’t come to the castle. Looks like I might have to take up my old job of babysitting you to make sure you don’t die.”Flowey replied as he crossed his leaves over one another and stared at the human.

“Heh… well I don’t think you need to worry about me dying. Red might be an asshole but he sure as hell doesn’t want to go back to the Underground. If I die from unnatural causes we don’t know if it will affect the timeline still or if I’ll have the option to Reset. Not that I would… but he wouldn’t believe me even if I told him that.” Another humorless chuckle was given by the woman as she waved good bye to the flower and turned to head back to Mountain Home. Flowey watched the woman go giving a frustrated sigh before disappearing into the ground to make his way to Asgore’s Castle.

~*~*~*~

Red gave a slight groan of pain as he teleported into the kitchen. It was later at night, and he hadn’t heard Papyrus or the human down here since they had finished eating. He was almost surprised that the woman hadn’t brought up some food for him, then again she was probably still pissed at him for putting her in her place. A slight chuckle was given at the thought as he opened the door to the fridge.

The skeleton flinched as the light from the fridge hurt his eye socket as his hand rose to cover it while the other one took the mustard bottle from the fridge. He froze for a moment when a voice spoke behind him.

“IT’S ABOUT TIME YOU GOT OUT OF YOUR BEDROOM YOU LAZY BONES!”Papyrus spoke from the doorway of the kitchen as he leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest. Red let his hand drop from his eye socket casually glanced back at his brother over his left shoulder with a slight smirk shrugging his shoulders. He kept his right side of his face hidden from his brother’s view.

“Heh sorry Boss, I was just really BONE tired. Working with Undyne can be a pretty marrowing experience.” Red gave a snicker as he received a faint sigh of irritation in reply from Papyrus who stood straight now as his red gaze glared at his brother. “Sorry if I woke ya bro, I just didn’t want to waste away to skin and bones on ya.” Red gave a slight chuckle of amusement as he closed the door to the fridge and pretended to busy himself with taking the top off of the mustard bottle.

The taller skeleton arched an eye socket at his brother as he stood straight now keeping his arms crossed over his chest. “DO NOT WORRY ABOUT ME SANS. YOUR LATE NIGHT VISITS TO THE FRIDGE HAVE LONG SINCE STOPPED WAKING ME.” Papyrus responded in an irritated tone. He paused as he considered what he was going to say carefully. The taller skeleton was not a fool, he was aware that while his older brother appeared weak and lazy there was more to it than that. Papyrus was also aware that Sans kept things hidden from him, he had always done so since they were younger. “BROTHER, I FELT YOUR ENERGY SPIKE EARLIER AFTER YOU ARRIVED HOME FROM YOUR PATROL. THE HUMAN ALSO SEEMED TO BE ON EDGE WHEN SHE LEFT EARLIER.” Papyrus commented as his tone turned accusing. “WHAT DID YOU DO SANS?” the taller skeleton questioned as he took a step towards his brother now.

Red gave a shrug of his shoulders; he carefully kept his back to Papyrus as he spoke. “Eh, she was over steppin’ her place again Boss. Seeing as she’s my responsibility I gotta make sure she knows who’s in charge. B’sides, I ain’t gonna kill her if that’s what you’re worried about.” His hand rose up in a slightly dismissive motion to try to brush off his brother’s unvoiced concern.

Papyrus’s eye socked gave a slight twitch as he clenched his fists tightly at Red’s words. He was being blatantly disrespectful and indifferent towards his superior and Papyrus’s patience had been stretched too far to tolerate it. The taller skeleton used his magic to form a bone pick in his hand and he gave a growl of irritation.

Red gave a slight flinch as the bone pick whistled loudly past the right side of his skull imbedding itself into the wall next to the fridge. _“Shit... there goes his patience. I was hoping it would last long enough to get back to bed…”_ The shorter skeleton thought to himself as he eyed the bone pick for a moment before the sound of Papyrus’s footsteps echoed in the now dead silent kitchen.

“DO I NEED TO REMIND YOU THAT WHILE YOU MIGHT BE IN CHARGE OF THE HUMAN, YOU ARE STILL MY UNDERLING?! WE MIGHT NOT LIVE IN A KILL OR BE KILLED WORLD CURRENTLY BUT THAT DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO DISRESPECT ME AS I’M STILL YOUR SUPERIOR  AND I WILL NOT TOLERATE BLATANT DISRESPECT! IT’S BAD ENOUGH UNDYNE REFUSES TO SEE ME AS AN EQUAL BUT NOW I MUST DEAL WITH YOU AS WELL!?” Papyrus began to rant as he stalked across the kitchen angrily, finally needing to blow off some steam as he approached the shorter skeleton much too quick for him to react. The taller skeleton only paused in his rant as he grabbed Red by his shoulder turning him so they were face to face.

Red saw Papyrus give the smallest of flinches as his gaze narrowed just a bit. Papyrus saw the faint cracks that appeared partially healed, but the main part of the injury seemed unhealed. Red just gave his brother an easy grin not really acknowledging the reaction. “Nah I’m good Boss. Sorry I got out of line with ya. The human’s fine, I didn’t hurt her, just… scared her a little bit is all. She got kind of pissed off at me though. That’s probably why she seemed on edge earlier.” Red gave a slight chuckle trying to lighten the mood.

Papyrus remained silent as he glared at the shorter skeleton with his red gaze. His hand rose as he pulled his brothers soul towards him, examining the miniscule HP bar beneath the soul with a brief shift of his pinprick gaze. While he still had extra HP from sleeping Papyrus could see the bar wasn’t to where it should have been from sleeping. Releasing his grip on Red, Papyrus stood straight up and took a step back crossing his arms over his chest as he did. “AFTER BEING A BODYGUARD FOR THE HUMAN TODAY I DON’T HAVE THE ENERGY TO REMIND YOU WHY I AM CALLED THE TERRIBLE PAPYRUS! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING PEST!” he growled in an irritated tone at his brother staring at him with his sharp gaze.

Red stared back at his brother before he gave a slight grimace as his skull throbbed once more. The skeleton snapped his fingers disappearing into thin air as he returned to his bedroom and collapsed back onto his bed. Wincing slightly from the pain, he crawled under the covers and closed his eye sockets trying to sleep again to help himself heal up.

Papyrus gave a slight sigh as his brother vanished back to his room. The taller skeleton sat down at the kitchen table now as he laced his gloved fingers together in front of his jaw, a grunt of frustration coming from him. “Damn It …” he muttered in a low voice, a rare feat for Papyrus as he wasn’t normally a quiet monster. He was now faced with a dilemma which needed a solution sooner rather than later, although neither option was favorable in Papyrus’s opinion but it was up to him to do something. The skeleton stood, unable to sit as he pondered his options while he began pacing the kitchen slightly as he anticipated a sleepless night ahead of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers! Welcome to chapter two of Underfell: Deal with the Devil! So I was planning on having this posted a lot sooner but I had started writing the chapter some time ago and went back and read it and wasn’t happy with how I had done it so… I rewrote the chapter! I’m hoping not to make this a habit but it might not be a bad idea since I feel like this chapter is already quite a bit better than what I had originally done.  
> Anyways, this chapter you all get a slight idea of just how Red(Underfell Sans) really interacts with Frisk and Papyrus. Basically he’s not the nicest guy ever, but he’s got a soft spot for Papyrus and Papyrus has a soft spot for him, although it’s not something they can express too often otherwise they look weak, and when you seem weak you tend to be targeted by the monsters of the Underground.  
> One thing about Red is that he likes to be able to intimidate and boss Frisk around. He can’t normally get away with it with other monsters because Papyrus is supposed to be the “stronger” of the two since he has more HP and Red is always being pushed around and intimidated by other monsters since he’s only “feared by association”.  
> I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for the faves, watches and comments guys! :3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: If you're more of a fan of the original Undertale then you may not really enjoy this story quite as much. This story will have a darker atmosphere to it. Violence, swearing, potentially suggestive content, and darker themes are just a few things to mention. Basically put it won't be a bunch of sunshine and rainbows. Also I will be referring to Sans as Red throughout the story as that's the nickname I gave him.

_She felt frustrated. It was a struggle to get them to listen to her. Even when she did manage to get them to listen to her, it still ended up being an unhappy ending. Getting through to the King was damn near impossible; two times so far… two damn times he had put an end to her plan to get everyone out. Since he refused to listen to her peacefully… what was she supposed to do aside from MAKE him listen? ‘Hehehe... making them listen is probably your only option… and that starts with Toriel. If she won’t listen to reason… then you should make her listen.’ A voice urged Frisk in a soft tone in the back of her mind. ‘Go that way… to the balcony that overlooks the Underground… there’s ‘something’ there that will help make them listen.’ The voice spoke in a soft soothing tone as Frisk’s gaze drifted to an archway just off to the side of the walkway that led to Toriel’s house. Hesitance stilled her feet; she didn’t want to make them listen, she didn’t want to go down that path…_

~o~o~o~

Frisk sat upright gasping loudly as a series of knocks on her door roused the human from her dream. _“D-dream… just a dream…”_ she tried to reassure herself as a panic attack seemed to be coming. The woman put her hand on her chest as she felt her heart thudding rapidly beneath her palm; her breath was short and shaky. Her eyes stared ahead vacantly for a moment before three more, loud, urgent knocks snapped the woman out of her thoughts. “Y-yeah… I’m up…” Frisk answered in a breathless sounding tone.

“LADY FRISK, I NEED TO SPEAK WITH YOU! IT’S A SERIOUS MATTER!” Papyrus’s voice responded to her words. The reply sounded a bit curt, but the skeleton’s tone seemed to have a hint of worry to it, although he would probably not admit that.

“Okay Papy. Just… just give me a moment okay?” Frisk answered in response as she looked at the door with a worried stare before standing to her feet and searching for a shirt to put on over her pajama top. Pulling on a t-shirt that had been discarded near her bed, Frisk walked over to the door and opened it gently. She saw Papyrus standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and one foot tapped impatiently as he waited for the human.

“Good morning Papy. What’s going on?” Frisk asked in a still sleepy tone as she rubbed her eye slightly while looking at the skeleton in front of her. As she waited, Frisk saw that Papyrus appeared to be a bit on edge and beneath his eye sockets there seemed to be faint, dark circles as if he hadn’t slept at all the previous night.

“I WILL BE GOING TO THE CASTLE TODAY. I REQUESTED A MEETING WITH THE KING THIS MORNING. I REQUIRE YOU TO COME WITH AS WELL.” Papyrus replied to her question with a tone of finality as he gave the woman a hard stare. Frisk looked at him surprised for a moment with his demanding demeanor, before a faint sigh escaped the woman.

She had mentioned to him last night at dinner that she was planning on taking the day off that had been offered to her just to recuperate a little bit. His sudden demand was a bit surprising since he knew what she had been thinking and the woman had half a mind to refuse despite “technically” being his subordinate as well.

Frisk drew up a small amount of her soul power as she gave the skeleton a hard stare in return. She felt her aura grow sensitive to the emotions that were kept bottled up in the younger skeleton’s soul. The woman could detect the worry more clearly now, as well as the frustration and anger he was feeling about something. She could also detect a feeling of finality as if he had reached an important decision.

The woman’s shoulders slumped as her soul power dissipated and her aura returned to normal. It was obvious based on his emotions that Papyrus was not going to be told no at this point. Frisk gave him a half hearted smile and nodded. “Alright… give me about 15 minutes to get ready and I’ll meet you downstairs Papy.” The woman replied in a tired sounding tone.

Papyrus’s shoulders relaxed slightly at her agreement. He had been expecting a fight of some sort since he had clearly been aware of her choice to stay home today and rest, however the agreement she gave was a pleasant surprise and he was grateful she didn’t fight him on this. “VERY WELL LADY FRISK. I MUST GO WAKE SANS AS WELL SINCE I WILL NEED HIM TO COME WITH TOO, SO 15 MINUTES IS REASONABLE.” The skeleton replied to her words as he gave her a nod in thanks and turned on the heel of his boots to make his way to his brother’s room.

Frisk blinked her eyes at his words before biting her lip as she closed the door to her room. She stared quietly at the door before giving a deep sigh and turning her back to it sinking to the ground as she stared up at the ceiling. _“Why? Why dose Red need to come with too? I’m… not ready to deal with him already today.”_ Frisk thought to herself as she continued staring up at the ceiling trying to mentally prepare herself for the rest of the day. “Damn it Papyrus…” the woman cursed softly as she hit her head back against the door in frustration. She winced slightly as the sharp pain in her head reminded her of what happened yesterday.

Papyrus stood outside of Red’s door knocking loudly on it three times. The tall skeleton stood impatiently for a few seconds outside before growing irritated with his brother and simply slamming open the bedroom door. “SANS! WAKE UP NOW!” Papyrus yelled in a loud, commanding tone as he walked over to his brother’s bed and forcibly shook the skeletons shoulder.

Red bolted upright in surprise before giving a loud growl of pain; he covered his injured eye socket as his head spun slightly. His left eye socket snapped open as he glared at Papyrus. “What the hell Papyrus!? It’s early in the fucking morning! What do ya want?!” Red yelled in an irritated voice as he winced slightly from the pain in his skull from sitting up too quick.

“QUIT BEING SUCH A LAZY BONES AND GET UP NOW! YOU’RE COMING WITH ME TO AN IMPORTANT MEETING WITH THE KING THIS MORNING! I’M NOT IN THE MOOD FOR ARGUMENTS, SO GET READY AND MEET US DOWNSTAIRS IN 15 MINUTES!” Papyrus snapped back at Red with a sharp glare as he crossed his arms over his chest as if daring his brother to argue with him.

Red frowned at his brother but said nothing. The tone he used already indicated there was no room for argument in this case. Giving a slight groan as the pain finally subsided somewhat he nodded his skull at Papyrus. “A’ight. I’ll be down there soon Boss.” Red agreed as he forced himself off the bed into a standing position now as he swayed slightly, trying to get his balance. Papyrus gave him a curt nod of his skull before he turned on the heel of his boots and walked out of the room slamming the door closed behind him.

~o~o~o~

Frisk stood in the kitchen about 20 minutes later running her hand over her face in frustration now as she stared at the two holes that had been put in the wall in the last 24 hours. One was about the size of Papy’s fist and the other looked to be a hole from a bone pick being imbedded into the wall. “Man… what am I going to do with these two? It’s amazing their house in Snowdin managed to stay in one piece considering they didn’t have anyone to fix it up.” The woman muttered in a low tone so Papy didn’t hear her in the other room.

“SANS! HURRY UP AND GET DOWN HERE! NOW!” Papyrus could be heard yelling from the living room. Frisk glanced over at the taller skeleton as he stood glaring up the stairs at Red’s door. Giving a faint sigh the woman leaned her back against the doorway as she crossed her arms waiting for the elder skeleton to get down here as well.

A faint pop from the central area of the living room could be heard before Red appeared in front of them as he stepped out from a red, swirling vortex that was his shortcut. “I’m here Boss, relax. Kinda wasn’t awake when ya told me I had ta be down here in 15 minutes.” Red replied with a slight frown on his face. Frisk took note that he had faint dark circles under his eye sockets as well indicating he probably hadn’t slept well last night either.

Red shifted his pinprick gaze to the woman who stood in the kitchen doorway looking at him. A slight smirk lifted the corner of his mouth as he grinned cockily at Frisk. “Why ya standin’ all the way over there Doll? I ain’t gonna bite.” The skeleton chuckled slightly as he continued to smirk at the woman.

“I’m not so sure about that Red.” Frisk replied in a slightly sarcastic sounding tone as she stared at the skeleton with a calm gaze that she tried to keep neutral. She didn’t want him to know whether she was still mad about yesterday or not since he tended to prey on her anger even more to get her fired up. The woman shifted her gaze to Papyrus now as she stared at him for a moment before taking a deep breath. “Papy don’t take this the wrong way but I have to ask the logical question here; why did you get us up this early?” The woman asked in a tone she hoped sounded calm.

“I BELIEVE I EXPLAINED THAT TO YOU ALREADY LADY FRISK! I REQUESTED A MEETING WITH THE KING FOR AN IMPORTANT MATTER!” Papyrus replied to the woman’s question as he gave her a slight glare of annoyance. He had thought he had made it obvious that there was an important matter he needed to attend to.

Frisk gave a faint sigh and pushed down the desire to run her palm over her face before she looked at Papyrus with a patient expression. “I understand that Papy. However, as you are well aware, I work with the king so I spend a good portion of my time at Castle Home and in some meetings with him. Papy, I’m asking because I know the king never starts his meetings before 9 in the morning… its 7:50…” the woman pointed out. She also knew it didn’t take an hour to get to the Castle Home from their house since she had been driven there weekly for the last year and a half.

 _“Hehehe! What a moron! I don’t know why you didn’t bother putting him out of his misery this time around.”_ A little voice mocked in the back of the woman’s mind. _“Shut up.”_ Frisk mentally snapped at the voice, silencing it for the time being.

Red stared at the woman a moment before shifting his gaze to Papyrus who stood silently looking at Frisk with a slightly surprised look on his features, before a faint hint of color tinged the skeletons cheek bones as he glanced away from the two of them with a deep scowl of annoyance. Red snickered slightly before it turned into a loud chuckle of amusement at the woman’s words and his brother’s reaction. It was a bit of a surprise to Red that Papyrus acted without thinking since he tended to think logically even when under stress, but to see his usually calm demeanor crack was oddly a bit satisfying to the shorter skeleton.

Frisk shifted her attention to Red after he laughed as he walked past her into the kitchen before she looked back at Papyrus. Giving a slight sigh the woman made her way over to the dark brown couch that sat centered in the living room. She hadn’t meant to embarrass him; she had only wanted him to realize that it was still far too early to go out to Castle Home for the meeting. “Sorry Papy. I’m sure whatever your reasoning is for the meeting is important. I just didn’t want to sit and wait for that long, or hear Red complain about having to wait.” The woman spoke in a soft tone hoping the younger skeleton wasn’t upset with her, she saw him as something like a big brother and to hurt his pride wasn’t something she ever intended to do.

“NEYH… YOU ARE CORRECT THOUGH LADY FRISK! I NEGLECTED TO TAKE THE TIME INTO CONSIDERATION AND GOT AHEAD OF MYSELF.” Papyrus responded in a calm tone as he crossed his arms over his sternum and frowned slightly. He wasn’t angry with the woman but with himself for overreacting and needing to be reminded of such an obvious thing. He had been the one who had been driving the woman to Castle Home for her work so he should have realized leaving now would make them far too early.

“It happens sometimes… even to the Great and Awesome Papyrus…” the human replied in a low tone with a slight smile lifting the corners of her mouth as she glanced at the skeleton out of the corner of her gaze. She saw a shadow of a smile pass over his face at the compliment but he quickly covered it with his usual serious expression. A small giggle escaped from Frisk, as she realized even if he was mad, he wasn’t mad enough to forsake a compliment. Seeing Papyrus give her a questioning look, she shook her head indicating it was nothing.

Red stood near the fridge, opening the cap of the mustard he had taken out for himself when the soft sound of Frisk’s giggle drifted into the kitchen drawing the skeleton’s attention to the living room where he had left the two. An irritated scowl replaced the neutral look that he’d had on his face, as Red gave a slight growl of irritation. “I din’t think those two would get along so well or I wouln’a agreed ta Paps’ condition of her bein’ his subordinate too. What’s he got that I ain’t got that makes ‘er listen to ‘im?” Red growled in a low tone as he muttered angrily under his breath; his features were set in a dark frown. He had all but forgotten the mustard bottle he was crushing in his grip as his red eye blazed brightly in his irritation.

Inhaling deeply Red flinched as his skull gave a faint throb, reminding him that he was still injured. The skeleton forced himself to relax since Papyrus was sure to pick up on his spike in energy otherwise. Glancing at the mustard bottle in his hand the skeleton quickly put it away to avoid making a mess since he wasn’t going to be the one to clean it up, and Frisk would probably wind up pissed off at him again.

Frisk stood back up now and walked towards the stairs. “Since we’ve got time, I’m going to change into my normal work clothing. I don’t know if Asgore will have me stay or not but even meeting him under normal circumstances I should still dress the part at least.” The woman explained as she made her way up the stairs to return to her room to change into something more fitting for her ambassador duties.

Red walked back in just in time to see the woman going upstairs. Walking over to the couch with his hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket, he flopped backwards onto the couch and stared silently ahead for a moment before glancing over to Papyrus with a slight smirk. “Ya seem a lil’ rattled this mornin’ Boss. Especially if the human had ta argue with ya.” He pointed out with a slight snicker as Papyrus glanced over at him with a narrowed gaze. “I can’t fibula, that was pretty damn humerus that she had ta put yer skull on straight.” Red teased his brother.

Papyrus’s eye socket twitched slightly in irritation before he walked over to the couch, balling his fist up as he went. Coming to a stop next to his older brother he knocked Red on the skull, making sure to keep to the left side as he did. “SHUT UP SANS! YOUR PUNS ARE STARTING TO GRIND MY BONES!” the younger skeleton snapped in an annoyed tone.

“Ouch. You’re so sternum today, Boss. Lighten up.” Red snickered as he winced from a second, slightly harder knock to his skull. Deciding he had poked enough fun at his brother, and that he didn’t want more of a headache than what he had lingering right now, Red grew quiet. Letting his eye sockets close slightly, the skeleton felt his restless night already catching up to him as he resisted the urge to yawn.

Glancing over at Papyrus again, who had now taken a seat on the couch as well, Red frowned slightly. “So what’re ya planning Boss? Especially if it involves me an’ the human, I think it’s fair ta give me an idea of what going through yer skull.” Red finally decided to prod his brother for an answer. He had a vague idea of what was going on in Papyrus’s skull but he wasn’t sure.

“YOU WILL KNOW SOON ENOUGH SANS! I WILL NOT TALK ABOUT MY PLAN UNTIL I’VE AT LEAST HAD THE KING HEAR ME OUT!” Papyrus responded as he crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back into the couch.

Red stayed quiet as he looked over at his brother who avoided his gaze. The skeleton closed his eye sockets and gave a slight chuckle. “Yer too wound up ‘bout this Boss. Sometimes ya jus’ gotta… let it roll off yer bones.” He replied in a knowing tone as he shrugged his shoulders, smirking cockily as he did.

“NEYH! DON’T ASSUME YOU KNOW WHAT I’M THINKING SANS! I ASSURE YOU WHAT I’M DOING IS MORE FOR MY BENEFIT THAN ANYTHING!” Papyrus snapped as he glared sharply at his brother before glancing away. “THAT BEING SAID… I MADE A PROMISE TO YOU BACK UNDERGROUND… AND I DON’T PLAN ON GOING BACK ON MY WORD…” Papyrus added hesitantly as he avoided looking at the older skeleton.

A frown crossed the skeleton’s face now as he opened his eye sockets partway and looked at Papyrus. They didn’t normally talk about the past since it was better just to leave it as that. Opting to remain quiet, Red stared up at the ceiling as his eye socket’s drooped again, a distant, nagging feeling tugged at the back of his mind. As if his subconscious was trying to remind him of something he had forgotten, something important. The skeleton drifted off into a light sleep, deciding to ignore the feeling for the time being.

~o~o~o~

The feel of the couch moving next to him woke Red from his short nap as his eye sockets opened slowly. Giving a faint groan of irritation, the skeleton sat up noticing that Papyrus was now up and standing as he heard movement from the stairs. “Fuckin’ finally. How long does it take to change clothes?” He grumbled in a low tone as he stood up.

“Sorry. Unlike someone else I know, I have to look presentable for my work…” Frisk replied in a sharp tone as she glared over at the skeleton with a scowl. The woman made her way down the stairs quickly; she was now wearing a white sleeveless cotton shirt with a collar and a red ascot. The shirt was tucked into a pair of black dress pants held up by a belt. She also wore a pair of small heeled black dress shoes and a midnight blue, cotton jacket. She had opted to put her hair up in a half ponytail braid.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ya don’t even look that…” Red started to reply as he rolled his pinprick gaze at her words. He stopped himself as he actually looked at her now. The clothing hugged her natural curves a lot more than the clothing he normally saw her in did. He was used to seeing her dressed in clothes she normally wore around the house, which usually consisted of a sweater or t-shirt and a pair of jean pants. The work clothes she wore were something different entirely, and although he wouldn’t admit it… she looked good in them. The skeleton opted to just shrug his shoulders and glance away from the woman before he was caught staring at her figure.

Frisk blinked as his words came to a stop. She had definitely expected him to finish his insult, the fact that he didn’t came as a shock to the woman. Not that he normally went out of his way to insult her; Red just never really censored his thoughts. Giving the skeleton a slightly confused look for a moment, the woman then pulled out her phone and looked at the time. “If we leave now we’ll still be early but only by 10 or 15 minutes.” Frisk looked to Papyrus for confirmation that he was ready to go.

“I THINK WE SHOULD BE GOING THEN! I, PAPYRUS OF THE ROYAL GUARD, WILL NOT TARNISH MY REPUTATION WITH THE KING BY BEING LATE TO THIS MEETING!” the young skeleton replied with a sharp nod of his head as he turned on the heel of his boot and made his way towards the front door.

Frisk followed behind him quickly, making her way to the garage where his car was parked. The woman opted to take the back seat, since Red tended to make smart ass comments when he sat in the back instead since he was out of reach of his brother.

“Heh. Tryin’ ta make sure I behave myself, Doll?” The elder skeleton asked as he arched an eye socket at her quick movements to take the back seat for herself. Frisk stared at him for a moment before casting him a sickeningly sweet smile.

“Of course not Boss. I just figured someone as important as you should take the front seat. It seemed fair to me anyways.” A hint of sarcasm laced her words as the woman replied to Red. His blazing red eye seemed to glare into her soul before he took the front seat without saying anything else.

“YOU TWO HAD BETTER NOT ARGUE THE WHOLE TIME WE’RE GOING TO CASTLE HOME!  IF YOU DO, I’LL PERSONALLY SEE TO IT THAT YOU BOTH REGRET THAT DECISION!” Papyrus warned in a tone that held a sound of finality to it. Frisk glanced at him before giving a quiet sigh and shifted her gaze out the window.

“Don’t worry Boss. A battle of wits requires two participants after all.” Red replied with a sarcastic tone as well now. Frisk looked at him with a sharp glare and opened her mouth to reply.

“ENOUGH! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT FROM EITHER OF YOU! THAT. IS. AN. ORDER!” Papyrus barked in a furious tone quickly shutting down Frisk’s reply as the woman grew silent so as not to stress the skeleton out even more. She could feel the tension radiating off of his bones, and she was sure that Red could feel it as well considering she wasn’t even that well in tune with monster magic.

~o~o~o~

The three of them had finally arrived at Castle Home where Asgore and Toriel had set up their home to lead their people. Making their way inside, Frisk instinctively led the two skeletons to the area where the meeting room was located since she knew the building like the back of her hand.

Red walked beside his brother with a half lidded gaze giving him the appearance of lazily following the woman. His gaze however never wavered from the human in front of him as curiosity overcame his irritation from before. While he had known that Frisk could be hardheaded and didn’t really listen that well, he had never seen the woman really show her confidence before that she had right now. It intrigued him quite a bit.

 _“Hmm… I’m gettin’ ta see more and more from this woman… she’s pretty damn interestin’ when she’s not just bein’ sassy. Her outfit looks pretty hot too…”_ The skeleton found his mind wandering as he followed after her watching as she walked confidently through the castle towards the meeting room. She had his interest again just like in the Underground but this time it wasn’t her perseverance that interested him but the confidence she exerted when she was comfortable.

The woman paused in step as she looked up at a pair of tall brown doors in front of them before turning to glance back at the two skeletons. “Here we are. Let’s take a seat, I don’t hear the king inside yet so they probably don’t have the room set up.” Frisk spoke before pulling her phone from her pocket and glancing at the time. “8:45… yeah they’ll probably start getting the meeting room set up in about 5 minutes.” The woman nodded her head as she made her way over to the small waiting area that had a single bench and two chairs, all of them with plush royal purple cushions to provide an inviting feel to the outsiders that usually waited here.

The three opted to take up the bench seat, although it was a little uncomfortable for Frisk who sat between the two brothers. Papyrus was on one side; he was fidgeting just enough to make it obvious to Frisk that he was nervous about meeting with the king about his issue. Red was on the other side; his hands tucked in his pockets as he waited in a calm silence for whatever Papyrus was planning. The differences in energy between the two had Frisk feeling a bit on edge as they felt like complete polar opposites right now. Since Papyrus was normally pretty calm in order to keep his mind clear and sharp, this contrast was throwing Frisk off slightly.

“Royal Guard Papyrus, the king is able to see you now. If you three would follow me inside please.” One of King Asgore’s royal aids walked over to the seating area bowing her head slightly in greeting to the three. Her name was Vittil, a black, feline looking monster that Frisk normally enjoyed talking to, even if it was usually polite small talk.

The monsters round, amber colored eyes shifted to the ambassador as a slight smile lifted the corner of her cat-like mouth. “It’s a pleasure to see you as always Lady Ambassador.” Vittil gave a more personal greeting to Frisk, causing the woman to issue a small smile and calming her nerves a little bit.

“Good morning to you as well Vittil.” The woman replied in a pleasant tone as she nodded her head at the monster. Vittil led the three of them through the doors and into the meeting room that had been set up. The feline monster bowed her head in greeting to the king before stepping off to take a seat at the back of the room in case she was needed for something. Sitting opposite of the entry way, at a large, round wooden table was the king who regarded them with a faint nod of his head.

“Please, sit.” Asgore instructed in a calm yet commanding tone. Frisk felt a little odd being on the other side of this table as she was usually present here during meetings between Asgore and other humans.

The woman glanced over at Papyrus out of the corner of her eye as she saw the skeleton’s jaw give a faint twitch as a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of his skull. The skeleton made his way forward bowing rigidly before the king in greeting. He then moved a chair out to take his seat directly opposite from Asgore. Red followed his brother’s lead, giving his skull a fairly respectable bow of greeting while his hands stayed in his pockets. The older skeleton then took his place on the right hand side of Papyrus as he waited for this meeting to be over. Frisk approached now as she bowed politely to the king as well before taking the seat on the left side of Papyrus.

“THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO MEET WITH US YOUR HIGHNESS! I… I DO APOLOGIZE FOR THE SUDDEN REQUEST THIS MORNING…” Papyrus spoke in a slightly strained tone, one that indicated he knew he kind of screwed up.

Asgore’s maw gave a slight twitch as he tried not to give a sigh of annoyance. “You’re welcome. However, I will request that next time you need to meet with me, you choose a more appropriate time to call. 3:30 in the morning is a bit unreasonable unless the situation involves serious injury or potential death…” The king responded in a calm tone as he laced his fuzzy fingers together in front of his snout.

Red took a moment to realize what the king had said. He couldn’t stop himself before he gave a slight snort and chuckled in amusement. Frisk on the other hand looked over at the skeleton with a disbelieving stare before she ran her hand over her face and gave a slight groat at the king’s words.

NEYH… I ERM… APOLOGIZE AGAIN YOUR HIGHNESS. I ACTED IRRATIONALLY AT THAT POINT.” Papyrus responded in a slightly quieter tone as his cheekbones turned red in embarrassment. He wasn’t sure what else to say really at that point.

“Indeed. Now what was it you wanted to discuss? Since you had these two accompany you I assume it must be of great importance, especially if it needed to be done on Frisk’s day off.” Asgore pointed out as he pressed onwards. Frisk could hear the strained patience of the kings tone as she gave him a slightly apologetic look.

“I FEEL IT IS IMPORTANT, NOT TO MENTION IT WILL AFFECT LADY FRISK. THAT’S WHY I NEEDED HER TO ACCOMPANY ME HERE.” Papyrus responded quickly in order to defend his position. The other three waited as the tall skeleton gathered his scattered nerves. “I WOULD LIKE TO REQUEST A CHANGE OF POSITIONING YOUR HIGHNESS. IF WE CAN ALL AGREE, I WOULD LIKE MY SUBORDINATE, SANS, TO TAKE OVER AS THE AMBASSADOR’S BODYGUARD IN MY STEAD.” The taller skeleton took a deep breath before finally asking his request. The sudden silence that engulfed the entire room was probably the most nerve wracking thing he had ever experienced, and that was saying something.

Frisk, who had been sitting with her head in her hand, moved her hand slowly down her face as she stared with a wide eyed gaze at the skeleton next to her. _“Wh-what? Papy… why? WHY would you do this to me?! Do you even realize just what you’re asking of me?!”_ Frisk mentally shouted at the skeleton as she resisted the urge to voice her thoughts out loud at his request.

Red, who had been dozing off in his chair as he waited, turned his skull to look towards Papyrus. He had been expecting SOMETHING from his brother but he hadn’t been sure just what that was going to be. This was definitely one of the least likely things he had been expecting. _“Shit… maybe I shoulda jus’ let her heal me up after all. Then he wouldn’ta known ‘bout Undyne roughin’ me up.”_ Red thought silently to himself as his red gaze shifted to Frisk. He would have laughed at her expression if he himself wasn’t surprised by the request. _“It don’t matter anyway. Judgin’ by her look, Dollface over there will shoot ‘im down.”_ Red waited patiently now for what he assumed was going to be a blow up between his brother and Frisk.

“I see…” The king muttered in a soft voice to himself as he shifted his gaze between the three in front of him now. Inhaling deeply to gather his composure, Asgore’s gaze remained on Papyrus now. “That’s an interesting request Papyrus. I understand now why it was necessary for Frisk to be present today, I cannot make this decision on my own as she has a say in this as well.” The king spoke in a calm tone as he looked at the taller skeleton before his gaze shifted to his brother.

Asgore was not blind to the elder brother’s injury above his eye, he also knew that Undyne had a tendency to treat Sans in a hostile manner. He had brought this up to the fish monster, but she defensively denied having an issue with Sans or Papyrus, and unless Sans approached him directly it was pointless for Asgore to try to push the issue.

Turning his attention to Frisk now, the king stared her in the eyes as he spoke. “What is your response to this request Ambassador? I would like to know your opinion on the matter if you would please share.” Asgore turned the floor over to Frisk as he awaited her response. Frisk eyed the king as her hand was placed on the table now before she glanced down at the table in front of her.

“U-uh… um…. I…” the woman opened her mouth as she tried to compose herself. She felt like she had just been on a rollercoaster ride that almost killed her. She was still trying to wrap her mind around what had happened in the last two hours. As her own shock finally wore off, the woman tried, again, to compose herself as she looked up and over at Papyrus now.

The taller skeleton sat straight as an arrow as his red gaze shifted to the woman. She didn’t need to use her soul power to detect the worry at this point as she could almost feel it radiating off of him. Tension filled his bones as they seemed to tremble slightly, and the fingers of his gloved hand flexed a bit in agitation. It was really important to him that he take over for Sans having to deal with working with Undyne. A faint sigh escaped the woman as she dropped her gaze staring at the table

 _“Hehehe... wow you really ARE a masochist, aren’t you?”_ the voice in her head whispered in a soft, mocking tone. _“You must really love subjecting yourself to pain. You can’t have already forgotten the fact that that asshole was just a hair too close to giving you a concussion last night.”_ The voice reminded her.

“Alright…” The woman blocked the voice from her mind as she reached her decision. It was mostly for Papyrus’s sake that she was going along with his request, but she also wanted to help Red in some way as well. Sitting up straight now, Frisk stared at Papyrus with her unwavering gaze. “Papyrus, I’ve been able to count on you and your judgment in the past. If you think that Re-…Sans… would be fitting to take over as my body guard, then I have no arguments.” The woman had to kind of force her words to come out in a calm tone. “Although I would like to know if this is a permanent change or a temporary one? I think I’m entitled to an answer.” Frisk pressed the skeleton gently for an answer. The woman didn’t miss the look of surprise that crossed Red’s face as his calm mask broke for a minute. The shorter skeleton was sitting upright, staring at her with confused look on his face as he took in what she had just said.

“I… DO NOT KNOW AT THE PRESENT TIME LADY FRISK. SOMETHING HAS COME UP THAT REQUIREDS MY ATTENTION AND I FEAR IT WOULD DISTRACT ME FROM BEING A PROPER BODYGUARD FOR YOU. SHOULD MY SUBORDINATE PROVE TO BE WORTHY OF BEING YOUR GUARD I MAY HAVE HIM REMAIN AS THAT… IF YOU PERMIT IT…” Papyrus replied after finding his voice again. He wouldn’t deny his surprise at her swift agreement to the proposal. He had been expecting more of a fight out of her, since he was aware of how Frisk and Red’s “relationship” was.

 _“Of course it couldn’t be that easy to get an answer out of him…”_ Frisk thought to herself in frustration before nodding her head slightly at the skeleton. “Very well. We will discuss the specifics of the length of this… arrangement… at a later date then.” The woman replied in a calm tone accepting his answer for the time being. Shifting her gaze now to the older skeleton who had regained his composure, the woman inhaled slightly before speaking. “What’s your opinion on all this, Sans? I think you have a say in this too.” The woman decided to make one last ditch attempt to get out of this; she knew it was a long shot though as Red normally went along with whatever Papyrus said since he was his boss.

Flicking his red gaze to the woman now, Red narrowed his eye sockets suspiciously at the question. He couldn’t tell if she was just being nice for some reason, or if she was trying to get him to get her out of this situation. A slight shrug was given by the skeleton. “It’s a’right with me if it’s what the Boss wants ta do.” Red responded in an indifferent tone as he shifted slightly in his chair now expecting there to be a discussion about his newly acquired duties as a bodyguard instead of patrol.

Frisk resisted the urge to give a groan at his agreement. Of course she didn’t expect him to go against Papyrus since he normally didn’t but it would have been nice if she could have caught a break. _“Oh well. I’m just going to have to deal with it I guess…”_ the woman thought silently to herself. Looking over to Asgore, she bowed her head slightly. “Now it’s basically you two catching him up on what he’ll need to know for being my bodyguard. If this is the case… may I be excused for the time being? I assume I’m not necessary for explanations as Papyrus has been doing it for the past year and half and has a good grasp of what is expected of my bodyguard.” She needed to get out and breathe before the reality of the situation crushed her in its cold grip.

“Of course… don’t wander too far though. It shouldn’t take too long here, and then they can take you back home so you can enjoy the rest of your day off.” Asgore replied as he nodded his head in acceptance at her request. Frisk quickly stood to her feet and turned to leave the room and the monsters in it to their business. She desperately needed to escape the tension and stress that she was feeling from this situation.

~o~o~o~

A short while later Frisk paced in the garden area back behind Castle Home. The numbness of the shock had finally worn off as she began to accept to reality of the situation. Red was now going to be her bodyguard, which meant he’d be close to her at all times if he followed the king’s instructions as Papyrus had. It didn’t exactly make her feel safe, considering how quickly his mood tended to change depending on the situation.

“Damn it… damn it, damn it, damn it all. Why did you do this Papy?” The woman muttered softly in a shaky tone as she reached into the inside pocket of her jacket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Putting one in her mouth, she lit the tip as she held it between her lips before putting the pack and lighter back in her pocket. Frisk inhaled deeply as the lit tip flared to life before she exhaled, watching as smoke billowed up from her lips in the air in front of her. It wasn’t a habit she was proud of, not at all actually as her father was a smoker as well, but thankfully it wasn’t one she succumbed to very often. She knew there were better ways than this to deal with stress, but this was convenient for now.

The woman continued to pace as her thoughts whirled through her mind. Busy with her own thoughts, Frisk missed the faint popping sound that was the cue that Red had teleported into the area. He was glad that the meeting was finally over and he was able to get away from both the king and his brother. Their constant instructions had gotten old real quick since he knew for the most part what was required of him already. Once he had been excused, Red had wandered out to find the woman and have a discussion of his own with her. He was curious as to why she had agreed to this. After looking around, Red had gotten a bit irritated when he couldn’t find Frisk anywhere in the castle like house so he had resorted to using the magic that bound them together to track her down.

Standing in the garden entrance with his hand in his coat pockets, Red watched the woman with a neutral gaze now as he waited for her to realize he was there. An irritated look crossed his face however when he saw the cigarette in her hand as the smoke wafted around her. It was a habit that really was a trigger for him, as the smell reminded him of things best forgotten. “I think I’ve told ya before that’s a real shitty habit ta have, Doll.” Red growled in a loud tone as he walked towards the human with a scowl on his face.

Frisk froze in mid step as she heard his dark, growling tone. _“Hehehe… aww looks like he caught you red handed little girl.”_ The voice giggled maliciously in her mind. Taking a couple breaths the woman shifted her gaze to the skeleton who approached her. She wasn’t exactly in the mood for his comment on shitty habits considering his own issues. Frisk stared at him coolly as she lifted her hand to her lips again and inhaled deeply, challenging him to do something. Red paused in step at her challenge as the two were five feet apart at the moment. Saying nothing, Frisk exhaled again letting the smoke billow from her lips as she let her hand drop to her side. She stared calmly at Red as she saw irritation flicker across his face. She knew she definitely wasn’t being good about holding up her end of their deal right now, but everything had already been flipped upside down thanks to Papyrus’ request.

“Put it out…” The skeleton spoke in a dangerously low tone as his left eye socket flared slightly with his red magic. He was getting sick of her purposely being disrespectful about their deal, indicating she still didn’t understand her position in this situation.

“And if I don’t?” she found herself replying in a soft voice before she could stop herself. “I need this little bit of solace…” Frisk glared at him now. Red’s eye socket flared brightly as he teleported right behind her in a split second and gripped her wrist tightly, twisting her arm behind her back. “Nng…” the woman let a little groan of pain escape her as her fingers lost their grip on what was left of the cigarette, dropping it to the ground.

“Look Doll, ya don’t wanna play that game with me. I ain’t gonna bullshit around, ‘specially if my subordinate ain’t gonna listen ta me like a good girl.” Red’s deep, low voice growled darkly in a dangerous tone right next to her ear. His free hand gripped her hip to keep her from falling forward as he kept her arm twisted behind her back. “Now… ya should apologize for the unnecessary sass, don’tchya think?” the skeleton demanded in the same tone as he twisted her arm a little bit more.

Common sense kicked in for Frisk as she realized her mistake. “Ahh! A-alright, alright! I’m sorry I challenged you, Boss! I w-was being disrespectful, please f-forgive me.” The woman replied in a strained tone as she winced slightly. Her eyes shot open as she gave a slight whimper from the pain of feeling her arm twisted a little more.

“So… where’re they at, Doll?” Red asked tightening his grip on her hip as he saw her knees start to buckle slightly from the pain. Although his left eye socket flared in his anger, the skeleton was determined to be patient and let the woman know he was the one in charge.

“Th-they’re in m-my inside jacket pocket, Boss! Haa!” Frisk gave a gasp of relief as Red released his hold on her arm finally. The woman felt herself begin to fall forward but before she could react she felt herself immobilized and suspended as Red’s magic gripped her soul, holding her up as he walked around in front of her and pulled the pack of cigarettes from her jacket pocket.

Frisk watched helplessly as the skeleton crushed them tightly in his grip before his red magic engulfed them, effectively destroying the pack. Before she had a chance to catch her footing the woman felt the magic that gripped her vanish causing her to stumble and fall forward onto the grass. Frisk took a moment to gather her strength as she panted slightly before pushing herself to stand again. She stared at the skeleton who stood in front of her now. He gave her a slightly smug grin as his gold tooth shone in the sunlight above them and his hands returned to the pockets of his jacket for the time being.

“So, why’d ya agree ta the Boss’s request? Ya seem ta hate bein’ around me, but ya agreed ta sometin’ that’s gonna mean I’m around ya all the time.” Red let his curiosity get the better of him. It was an interesting situation that Frisk agreed to, he assumed it was mostly for Papyrus’s sake that she had, but he felt like teasing the woman a little bit since she gave him such interesting reactions when he did.

Frisk’s gaze narrowed at the skeleton before she turned around keeping her back to him as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Look I’m not thrilled with the idea okay?! Papy really thought this would be for the best. I’m hopeful that by making you my bodyguard, you’ll be able to keep out of trouble, and maybe it will put Papy’s mind at ease for a bit.” She knew if she replied while looking at him her gaze would drift to his crack above his eye socket giving away the fact that she was worried about his well being as well.

Narrowing his eye sockets slightly at her response the skeleton gave a slight chuckle as he walked up behind her, stopping as he peered over her shoulder with a smug grin. “I think there’s more ta it than that.” Red spoke in a low, rumbling tone in her ear. Frisk’s whole body tensed as she felt his intimidating aura right at her back. A chill crawled down her spine again. “I think maybe… just maybe, yer worried ‘bout me, Doll. ‘Specially after last night. Ya were pretty persistent ‘bout healin’ me up, weren’tchya?” Red purred slightly in her ear, trying his best to get a reaction from the woman.

Frisk felt her heart beating heavily in her chest as she inhaled shaky breaths, quickly gathering her wits to get out of this situation. A small chuckle was given as she straightened her back glancing over at him with a slight smirk. “Don’t flatter yourself Boss. I would be persistent about healing anyone that’s hurt, not just your stubborn ass.” She turned on her heel now so she was facing the skeleton with a cool stare. “Besides, if something were to happen to you, Papy would never let it go. To be honest he’s not that bad of a monster, seeing him beat himself up over you… would bother me more than if anything happened to you, Boss.” She bit back at his teasing with a sharp tone, protecting herself and her emotions from him as best as she could.

“SAAAAAAAAANS!!!” Papyrus’s loud yell echoed around the garden, interrupting their talk now. Frisk glanced over her shoulder ignoring the irritated glare Red gave her reply. Giving a slight sigh, Frisk began walking towards the younger brother as she put distance between herself and Red. The skeleton let her get a few steps ahead before he followed after her lazily trying to cover up his irritation at her response.

~o~o~o~

Still dressed in her work clothes, Frisk had escaped from the skelebro’s house the first chance she had. There had been a lot of tension from Red on the way home, although he said nothing. Apparently her words had stung more than what she realized. Not that she necessarily meant what she said but it was the only way to protect herself from him.

Frisk walked into the business district of Mountain Home at a brisk pace. She made a bee line for a rustic looking, wooden building with a big sign on the top that read Grillbyz. She had grown accustom to frequenting the bar since getting back to the surface, mostly because Grillby had been the most neutral monster, aside from Flowey, that she had found in the Underground. While he was a terrible flirt and play boy, he at least hadn’t wanted to kill her on sight like most of the monsters had. So tolerating his flirty nature was a price the woman had been willing to pay for some decent company.

It was still early in the day, a few regulars that Frisk swore never left the place were sitting at one end of the bar, but otherwise it was pretty deserted right now. Behind the bar stood the living flame that was Grillby. His navy blue body flickered brightly in the dim darkness of his bar as lavender colored highlights flickered across his “skin” in flame like movements; the flames that made up his “hair” flickered in the air, similar to a candle in the darkness. He wore a black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The black shirt was left a little more than half way unbuttoned revealing a white, collared undershirt beneath it. Both shirts were tucked into pair of black slacks that were rolled up at the bottom revealing a pair of shiny black dress shoes. The monster’s deep purple gaze, which sat behind a pair of small rectangular glasses, arched in interest at his visitor as he made his way over to the woman with a deliberate gracefulness he didn’t normally show.

“Well hello there Beautiful. It’s been a while…” the flamesman commented in a smooth sounding tone as he rested his chin in one of his hands and stared at the woman. His voice reminded Frisk of the faint crackling of a campfire as it seemed to crackle slightly, although his tone was never wispy but always very deep and almost seductive.

“It has been a while hasn’t it Grillby? Ambassador duties have been keeping me pretty busy lately.” Frisk replied in a calm tone brushing off the pet name easily. “I need a drink today though… it’s been rough.” The woman said giving a sigh as she rubbed her temples slightly to try to fend off the faint headache she felt.

“Hmm, indeed. Your aura does seem very tense Beautiful. If you don’t relax you’re going to give your lovely face wrinkles.” Grillby replied smoothly to her before standing up now. “Would you like your normal drink?” He asked reaching for a shaker.

“Please… although if you would just tell me the name of the damn drink I could order it like a normal customer…” Frisk grumbled the last part as she watched Grillby expertly mix the drink into the shaker he used to make it for her.

“Heh… you probably wouldn’t like the name I’ve come up with for this concoction since I make it especially for you Beautiful. You were very difficult to figure out, just what kind of drink suits you but I seem to have it down finally…” Grillby replied with a hint of pride in his deep tone.

Frisk blinked her eyes at him curiously. The flamesman always seemed to pride himself on being able to read his customers auras and cater to their drinking needs but he couldn’t figure out her drink in the Underground. Apparently it required ingredients from the surface, which she wasn’t surprised to hear since she originally came from here. He poured her drink into a tall, slender glass and garnished it with a piece of dark chocolate attached to the rim of the glass. “Enjoy, Beautiful.” He purred at her with a smirk on his face and a wink of his purple eye.

Taking a sip, Frisk felt the familiar slight burning sensation of the liquid going down her throat before she took a small bite of the bitter chocolate. Feeling the drink sooth her nerves she smiled slightly as she tried to pick apart the flavors of the drink now. “I taste the cinnamon.” She commented quietly.

“Indeed. Cinnamon liquor, I was surprised you seemed to like it considering it’s got a bit of a, ahem… fiery kick.” Grillby responded looking at the woman as she sipped the drink again looking at it thoughtfully. _“She looks cute when she’s in thought like that…”_ the flamesman thought with a soft chuckle.

“But you’ve cut the kick with something. It tastes like something I should know, something sweet…” The woman murmured with a focused look on her face as she stared at the amber liquid. It was lighter than just cinnamon liquor. “Coconut…something else too… something fruity but I can’t pin that down.” Frisk gently stirred the drink before glancing to Grillby who just gave her a smug grin not answering her inquiry.

A while later, after trying to pick apart a second drink and a little bit of idle chat, Frisk was feeling a lot more relaxed now as the afternoon began to transition to evening. Her drink was having its desired effect on her as she felt a faint buzz clouding her mind, easing her away from the stress of the day. “So you really don’t want me to know the name? Is it that bad?” the woman inquired curiously for the third time as Grillby returned to talk after serving a few of his other customers.

“Heh, you really want to know what it is?” he asked smirking slightly as he looked at the woman who nodded her head. “I’m telling you, you’re not going to like what I’ve named it. If you insist though…” he paused as she gave her head a firm nod. “Heh alright. If you must know, I call it Sex in a Volcano, because of the fiery, cinnamon kick and the coconut and fruit combination to help tone it down a bit. It’s a combination of wild and calming all at once.” He spoke as his smirk grew even wider.

Frisk blinked her eyes letting the name of the drink sink in before her face turned a faint shade of pink in embarrassment. “O-oh… well that’s a… nice name. U-um… I think I’ll just… keep asking for my regular…” The woman stuttered in surprised. Grillby snickered at her response to the name.

“What? You don’t want to ask me for Sex in a Volcano?” He asked in a suggestive, smooth tone causing the woman’s face to turn a slightly darker shade of red as she stared intently at the glass in front of her. He laughed slightly at the reaction before lifting her chin so she was looking at him. “You’re so adorable.” Grillby’s tone was soft as he looked at the woman who was frozen for a moment before batting away his hand.

“S-stop. Don’t say things like that. I-it’s… embarrassing.” Frisk found her voice finally although the reply was meek and not really that convincing as the flamesman looked at her with an arched brow in confusion.

“Really? You’re embarrassed by the truth?” He asked curiously looking at the woman who wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I mean it though, Frisk. I really do think you’re adorable… among other things.” The bartender said with a hint of seriousness in his deep tone causing the woman to look at him with a wide eyed gaze. He never, NEVER used her name, it was always a pet name. She felt her cheeks flare slightly as she grew aware of his closeness to her now; she also became acutely aware of his natural scent of what she could only describe was hot coals on a campfire.

“Ah… erm… I, I should be going. I do have to work tomorrow. G-good night Grillby.” Frisk quickly placed a small handful of coins on the counter top before standing to her feet to leave. She stumbled slightly as she gripped the counter trying to keep her balance as her head spun slightly.

“Hold up Beautiful.” Grillby spoke in a calm tone as he walked around the side of the bar. He wrapped his arm around the woman’s side to help keep her balanced. “I might have gotten a little over zealous with that last drink since you were so insistent on picking it apart. It looks like I poured it a little heavy. Sorry about that.” He spoke in a serious, apologetic tone as he tried to keep the woman balanced.

“I-I’m alright I think. I just… uh…” Frisk tried to take a step forward but found that trying to walk by herself was a little difficult at the moment as the world still spun slightly. She felt feather light, but at the same time clumsy as her feet refused to work properly.

“Do you want me to call Sans and have him…” Grillby started to offer since she seemed uncomfortable with him at the moment.

“N-No! No, don’t call Red… I… I’ll be alright.” The woman declined the offer in a hurry, she was finally starting to relax and the thought of Red having to come to get her like this didn’t appeal to the woman at all. Especially not after what had happened between them today.

Grillby watched the woman struggle for a moment before giving a sigh. “Sit a moment then Frisk.” The flamesman said setting the woman back on the stool. He gave a loud sharp whistle, causing a Greater Dog to poke his head out of the kitchen door with a curious stare. “Watch the bar for me; feel free to toss out anyone that causes you problems. I’ll be back soon.” He instructed as he walked back behind the bar and grabbed a long black coat with white lining around the collar from a coat hook in back. Slipping the jacket on over his shirt the flamesman walked back over to Frisk and helped her to her feet.

“Wh-what are you doing?” she asked with a confused stare as she was led towards the door of the bar. Grillby gave a slight chuckle.

“Walking you home of course. If you won’t let me call Sans and you don’t want to stay until you sober up a little bit, then I’ll see to it that you get home myself. Greater Dog is a bit stupid but he can still keep an eye on the bar for a little bit.” He replied as if it should have been obvious to her what he was doing.

“O-oh. Um… thank you then. I appreciate it.” The woman muttered in a slightly embarrassed tone. She knew he liked to flirt with her, but him being… nice like this was a little weird for the woman. Grillby opened the door letting both of them outside as his hand rested gently on the woman’s side to keep her balanced. Using his free hand he pulled his collar a little closer to him to block out the cool spring air that blew past the two of them. Glancing at him as he made the motion, Frisk felt guilty now. “I’m sorry… you really don’t have to walk me home… I’ll be alright.” The woman muttered as she tried to come to a stop. Grillby urged her forward with a small nudge to her side however to keep her going.

“Heh you don’t need to worry about me. A little chilly air never hurt me; as you know I came from Snowdin.” The flamesman chuckled at Frisk as they continued walking. She stayed quiet, deciding it was better not to argue with him and his persistence in her current state.  She drew her own jacket closer to herself as the chilly air bit at her heated skin.

Grillby gave her a side glance as the two walked quietly now. Looking ahead, his purple gaze narrowed as he drew up his magic into his core and extended it outwards away from him, giving off a flare of heat as he did. His skin seemed to dance with his fire magic as it licked the air through his clothing, his hair fire licked wildly at the air as well, appearing longer as it did.

Frisk turned her head slightly at his action, before looking forward as a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth slightly. She leaned towards him a little bit accepting the warmth he was producing. Although she probably didn’t realize how dangerous that decision was considering how much he liked flirting with the woman.

“Heh heh, well aren’t you just tame today. Normally I don’t get this close to you without some smart comments from you.” Grillby smirked slightly as they walked, her aura seemed to be a lot more relaxed then when she had walked into the bar.

“Mmm… I’ve had a long two days. I’m just tired is all. Not really in the mood to fend off your advances I guess.” Frisk replied in a slightly tired sounding tone. “Not to mention you aren’t just being a flirtatious ass. You’re being kind of… nice tonight.” She added fidgeting slightly with a strand of hair.

The flamesman just gave a slight chuckle at her words, he was indeed giving her a little bit of a break although he hadn’t thought she had noticed. The two came to a stop outside of the skeletons’ house now as Frisk took a step away from Grillby. “I think…” he said before she could get away, “That you owe me a little something for keeping you safe and warm on the walk home. Don’t you agree?” Grillby asked in a calm tone as he stared at her with an arched brow.

“Erm… w-well, I mean, I did try to convince you not to bother walking me home and…” Frisk paused in her reasoning as the flamesman walked up to her and took gripped her chin as he leaned close to her, his aura surrounding the two of them warming the air surrounding them as well.

“Ah, ah, ah. I will let you in on something. My intentions for being so easy with you tonight weren’t exactly good. Then again I’ve the common sense to know that taking advantage of you in this situation would only piss you off.” Grillby explained as his smoldering gaze captured hers, Frisk stood rooted to the spot as her mind buzzed slightly. “That being said, since I am a business man, I still expect my due.” He purred in a low, seductive voice.

He leaned forward, capturing Frisk’s lips with his for a moment. The woman’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden move he made on her, but her slight buzz from the drinks in combination with the warmth that engulfed her left the woman immobilized as her eyes half closed. She could feel her heart beating loudly in her ears, and her strength all but failed her as she struggled to stay standing.

Grillby broke the kiss as he stared at the woman with a slightly mischievous gaze before he stood back and turned to walk away glancing back over his shoulder at her. “Sweet dreams, Beautiful. Hopefully I’m in them.” He gave her a smirk and a wink before walking away with a slight strut while Frisk’s gaze followed after him as her hand rose gently to her lips as the heat from the flamesman’s lips lingered on her own as a smoldering reminder of what had just happened.

Neither one of them noticed Red glaring down at them from his bedroom window as his left eye glowed with a dangerous red blaze of magic. He had been trying to sleep when he had suddenly felt a chill crawl through him causing him enough unease to rouse him out of bed. When he sensed the sudden energy spike nearby and looked out the window to see Grillby and Frisk standing below he felt a sudden spike of inexpiable anger as he clenched his fists tightly. “That sonovabitch…” he muttered in a venomous tone before forcing himself to step away from the window.

He wasn’t sure exactly why, but seeing Grillby kiss the human set off the skeleton’s temper as he resisted the urge to punch a hole in the wall of his room. “That fuckin’ woman is gonna drive me nuts…” Red muttered in a frustrated sounding tone as he lay back down on his bed with a growl of anger escaping him as he heard the front door open and close beneath him. The skeleton took a few deep breaths as he tried to quell the anger that had flared the moment he saw the two. Closing his eye sockets Red tried to go back to sleep but the image of what he had just seen kept replaying in his mind, stoking his jealousy even more to the point where sleep wouldn’t come as he tossed and turned on the bed for a good portion of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome, dear readers, to Chapter 3 of Underfell: Deal With The Devil! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and hopefully the wait was worth it.  
> It seems there's more to our little Frisk's Underground adventure than just the 11 RESETS she put herself through, something happened that affected her more than she's letting on, but she's doing a good job at hiding it.  
> I'm not sure how obvious it was what Papyrus was thinking of doing to protect Red. I didn't exactly want to let on to what he was thinking of doing in the last chapter, but at the same time hopefully it doesn't seem like it came out too random. I know in Underfell they don't have a tendency to seem super brotherly towards each other, but I picture it as more of a means of survival than them actually hating each other. So being on the surface might change things a little bit but Papyrus still can't afford to look weak if he wants to protect Red because of their reputation.  
> The last part of this chapter with Grillby was a bit of a spur of the moment idea since I really couldn't imagine Red admitting that he may like Frisk without a little motivation... or rivalry. Although I still see Grillby and Red as best friends, and Grillby isn't exactly aware of the deal Red made with Frisk to keep her from leaving, nor his reasons for doing it. He did what he did because he's actually interested in Frisk himself, despite the fact that he has made himself known to be a playboy since he does have a habit of flirting with certain customers.  
> Thank you all as always for the Kudos, follows and comments, I appreciate it a lot and it keeps me motivated to keep going with this! :3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: If you're more of a fan of the original Undertale then you may not really enjoy this story quite as much. This story will have a darker atmosphere to it. Violence, swearing, potentially suggestive content, and darker themes are just a few things to mention. Basically put it won't be a bunch of sunshine and rainbows. Also I will be referring to Sans as Red throughout the story as that's the nickname I gave him.

Red had effectively given up trying to get a good night’s sleep as his alarm blared at him now as morning came. The skeleton glared at the ceiling with a dark look on his face. Two nights of shitty sleep was definitely going to make his first official day as Frisk’s bodyguard long, and his temper short. Closing his eye sockets as he tried to compose himself, a strong scent wafted up to his room as he scrunched his eye sockets closed even tighter for a moment before opening them slightly, knowing he couldn’t avoid having to get up now.

While he didn’t smell it all that often he knew the scent to be coffee, and there was only one person in the house who ever drank the stuff. Since he and his brother had to use more energy to ingest human food and drinks they almost never did. Only Frisk usually drank it, and usually it was after a particularly long day since she said she needed the energy for the upcoming day.

If she was up and going though, Red knew he should be too, even if he wasn’t ready to deal with the day ahead. His anger from last night seemed to have been replaced with irritation now so it would be easier to face the woman at this point. Giving a grunt the skeleton sat upright and his red gaze began searching for where he had managed to toss his jacket last night.

~o~o~o~

Frisk was up and dressed by 7am, which was a bit abnormal for the woman since she usually allowed herself a little more time to rest. She hadn’t really been able to sleep last night however as her mind buzzed with thoughts that just wouldn’t silence themselves. The woman drifted off for a time which allowed her body enough time to process the alcohol she had consumed that night, but not enough to get a proper amount of sleep. It also wasn’t enough to fend off the oncoming headache she felt in her temples.

The woman stood silently in the kitchen now with a cup of coffee held in her hands as she stared off into space with a blank look on her face. She was now trying to process the events of last night as best she could. Frisk had always known that Grillby enjoyed flirting with her, although it usually consisted of crude comments that she tried to ignore so she didn’t give him the satisfaction of getting a reaction out of her. She assumed he treated it like a game of sorts, to see just what would get the best reaction out of her, and if she would play the game along with him or not.

As she mulled it over, the woman realized that last night wasn’t the same as normal; his flirting had been low key, almost to the point where it was more playful than suggestive.  What happened when he walked her home though… that was completely out of left field for the flamesman, he had never been THAT direct and assertive before. As she thought about what had happened her finger tips unconsciously rose and brushed against her lips.

A sudden pop just inside the kitchen startled the woman out of her thoughts as she visibly jumped, accidentally spilling some of her coffee from her cup onto her hand and wrist as she did. “Ouch!” she hissed in a low tone under her breath as she set her cup down on the counter top quickly turning on the faucet as cool water rushed over her skin.

Looking back once she had tended to herself, she saw Red standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his sternum as his red gaze rested on her. She felt a chill crawl up her spine at how cold his gaze seemed to be. “…Good morning, Red.” Frisk spoke in a hesitant tone as she stared at the shorter skeleton. The circles under his eye sockets seemed even darker this morning, leading the woman to wonder if he had even slept last night. “I know you normally don’t, but do you want some coffee this morning? You look like you could use it.” She offered hesitantly, Frisk wasn’t sure what to make of the odd aura she could feel coming from him.

“That shit tastes terrible. It’s bitter as fuck.” Red responded in a low tone walking over to the kitchen table to sit down as he tucked his hands into his pockets. The woman suppressed a slight chuckle at the response.

“I drink it black, that’s why. I can always sweeten it a little for you.” Frisk responded in a quiet tone as she walked over to the kitchen table and sat down as well. She still kept her distance from the shorter skeleton, but she wasn’t exactly in the mood for fighting this morning so she was willing to tolerate his short remarks for the time being for the sake of keeping peace between them.

Red stared at the woman a moment as she spoke, biting back a suggestive remark. As she sat in silence, his irritation shifted back to anger as last night played back in his mind. He found himself drumming his phalanges irritably against the table top now. “So where the hell did ya wander off ta yesterday afternoon?” Red suddenly asked in a curt tone that was brimming with anger as he finally brought up his issue.

Frisk blinked her eyes at the sudden mood swing, not sure what had prompted it. He was clearly angry about something, but the woman wasn’t sure just what it was. “I went out for a drink. As far as I know I’m allowed to wander around Mountain Home on my own occasionally without supervision.” The woman replied in a neutral tone trying her best to defuse the situation before it got even worse. _“Don’t let his short remarks get the better of you…”_ she reminded herself silently still not wanting to fight him if she didn’t have to.

“Heh, jus’ a drink huh?” The skeleton gave a slightly bitter chuckle as his eye sockets didn’t waver from the woman. Red leaned back slightly in the kitchen chair as he stared at Frisk who didn’t offer any more of an answer. “I think, as yer bodyguard of course, that it’d be a good idea if I accompanied ya at all times when ya go out. I mean ya are my responsibility af’er all. If I don’t keep an eye on ya, it’ll look pretty bad on my part… so, I’m restricting yer wandering privileges to jus’ the neighborhood. If ya wanna go farther than that, I’m goin’ with ya.” Red replied in a suddenly calm tone to the woman.

Frisk glanced hesitantly at him when he made the first comment. Did he know what had happened last night, and if so why would it bother him so much? However as his next words hit her like a ton of bricks, the woman shot a glare at him forgetting her desire to keep the situation calm. _“Is he serious?! He’s just looking for a fight now!”_ she mentally yelled as she felt her cheeks grow warm as her temper flared. Frisk stood to her feet quickly and crossed her arms over her chest as she tried to keep a neutral look on her face while staring at the skeleton now. “Excuse me? Red, you might be my bodyguard however I’m free to go about my life without having you constantly hovering over me. If you think you have control over my daily life because you have been handed the title of ‘bodyguard’ you are sorely mistaken.” By the time she had finished her rant her tone had changed from neutral to irritated as her cheeks grew red in anger. The sound of Red’s skeletal hand connecting with the table top quickly silenced the woman however as she took a slight step back away from him.

 “Nah. Doll. Ya see yer the one whose mistak’n.” Red snapped in a loud tone as he slammed his hands on the table again, standing to his feet this time as he did. A slight smirk lifted the corner of his mouth as both his eyes glowed bright red now, although the left one was visibly ablaze with his magic as it lit his eye socket up. “Ya see,” he started as he walked toward the woman who instinctively backed up away from him. “It’s not jus’ cuz I’m yer bodyguard. I’m also yer boss too.” The skeleton spoke in a matter of fact tone as he continued forward cornering the woman against the counter as his magic flared angrily around him. “Ya belong ta me. Tha’s why I KNOW I can control what ya can and can’t do.”

Frisk felt her heart give a fearful flutter as she realized she was cornered by the temperamental skeleton now. A memory of her past seemed to morph into the reality around her from the fear she felt; it was one memory she definitely didn’t want to see again. For a brief moment, although it felt like much longer to the woman, the kitchen she knew vanished and she saw the Judgment Hall around them once more; she no longer felt like herself, as if she didn’t have any control of what her body was doing and it was just going through motions it remembered on its own. Her mind subconsciously made her hand grab at the counter behind her where a butter knife had been left out on top of a plate from dinner the night before. _“Hehehe! Yes! Stop him or he’ll kill you!”_ Frisk heard the voice whisper urgently in her ear, urging her to rely on her fight or flight instincts that her memory was forcing her to feel. Her shaking hand curled around the handle as the vision in front of her flickered and her fear filled mind replayed the specific scene. A phantom Gaster Blaster suddenly appeared in the air; it hovered over Red’s form as her mental fear shifted into determination to survive. **_“No! This isn’t real!”_** the rational part of Frisk’s brain screamed at her.

“RED STOP!” The woman suddenly yelled at the shorter skeleton as she snapped herself out of her memory, the vision fading away as the kitchen came back into view. A wave of nausea over came Frisk as her mind whirred unable to comprehend what had happened for a moment. Unable to run past Red the woman turned quickly as she hovered over the sink, emptying the contents of her stomach into the metal basin. Silence filled the kitchen for a minute before Frisk gave a slight gasp as she pushed down the urge to throw up again. “B-Boss, I’m sorry b-but can you leave me alone for a bit? Please?” the woman pushed out the words as her stomach settled for a moment but the nausea remained.

The shorter skeleton stood in a daze, his eye sockets had grown wide as he processed what had just happened. He had seen Frisk spin around, in that same moment he saw the knife flash just in front of his face. A sick sense of déjà vu filled the skeleton as the same sensation from yesterday of feeling like he had forgotten something important flickered through his mind. Snapping out of his daze when Frisk spoke he glared at her back a moment, debating with himself just how much he wanted to push to find out what the hell had just happened to her. Giving a low growl the skeleton decided to give in to the woman’s request as he vanished with a faint pop from the kitchen now.

Frisk panted slightly as she stared with an unfocused gaze at the sink before gritting her teeth and giving a slight growl of anger. _“You need to go away! You don’t have control any more, and you never will again if I have anything to say about it!”_ Frisk mentally snapped at the voice in the back of her mind.

 _“Oh really? You’re a real moron if you actually believe that my dear Frisk. You’ll never be rid of me; I’ll always be lurking in the darkest part of your soul. Hehehe, try and try again human, I’ll keep coming back. Someday you won’t be able to solve things peacefully and that’s when I’LL rise up and take over for you…”_ The voice replied to her in a dark sounding tone before growing silent for the time being.

The woman took a few deep breaths before giving a sigh as the fear finally began to ebb away now that Red had disappeared. She had been lucky that her memories of the Underground had only haunted her dreams; this occurrence had never happened to her before where her mind conjured up a memory that was so vivid and real while she was awake. Frisk stared at her hand that rested on the counter now as her gaze focused on the knife she held. Slowly, the woman released her hold on the object as she ran her hand over her face.

“Shit. That was too real; why did he have to freak out like that? If I wouldn’t have stopped myself…” Frisk trailed off as she shook her head trying to rid herself of the disturbing thoughts that entered her mind. Wiping her cheeks, which were wet from tears she hadn’t realized she’d shed, the woman turned the faucet on to clean out the sink now. “It’s going to be a long day dealing with him now... damn it I just can’t seem to catch a break lately.” Frisk whispered in a low tone as she rested her forehead against the cool countertop, listening to the sound of the water running in the background.

~o~o~o~

A short time later Frisk made her way out of the kitchen to meet Red outside now that she had managed to compose herself. She expected questions from him, but she wasn’t sure how he would go about doing it. It was either going to be direct and to the point or maybe she would be lucky and he would be subtle. “Well… I’m going to find out really quick.” Frisk whispered to herself as she put her hand on the door handle gathering her determination.

As soon as she closed the front door behind her, the woman turned around and saw Red standing rigidly on the small path that led up to the front door. While he did give Frisk a little bit of space, his odd aura from earlier still hadn’t vanished completely. On top of that the gaze that lingered on her was filled with suspicion now. “So what the hell was that all about?” he snapped in a gruff tone as he gave the woman a hard stare.

 _“Damn it. No mental time to prepare for him, as usual. I’ve got to come up with an answer quickly…”_ Frisk mentally told herself as her gaze didn’t waver from the skeleton while she searched her mind quickly for an excuse. Inhaling deeply, the woman frowned at Red before speaking to him. “Maybe it didn’t occur to you since you’re an insensitive prick sometimes, but I do experience a bit of trauma from all the timelines I went through. Normally it’s just nightmares, which I can deal with pretty well; however you cornering me like that triggered one of my memories and nearly sent me into a panic attack.” Frisk replied in a sharp tone being at least half honest with him since she couldn’t think of an excuse on the spot.

Red continued to glare at the woman as she spoke. He still couldn’t shake the sense of déjà vu nor the nagging feeling of forgetting something, however considering he had never seen the woman fight back in all her timelines he couldn’t place why he felt this way either.“Tha’s yer fault. Ya coulda left with that stupid flower after Asgore killed ‘imself the firs’ time.” Red replied back in a sharp tone as he took a step towards the woman who inhaled sharply but stood her ground against him this time.

“No… I couldn’t have left. I wasn’t going to let it end like that. Asgore… he didn’t need to die and I knew it. Despite this whole kill or be killed bull shit you all seemed to believe in, I knew there was another way, a happier way. I knew I wasn’t going to leave until I had either run out of options to make you all see that or until my soul lost its determination.” Frisk stubbornly held her head high as her tone was laced with anger at even the suggestion that she could have left them down there.

A dark chuckle escaped Red as he scowled at the woman’s response before quickly approaching her, standing toe to toe with Frisk as she looked at him with a defiant stare. “Heh, and tha’s what got ya into trouble, Doll. That fuckin’ caring stuff ya do, believin’ there’s good in everyone.” The skeleton slammed his hand loudly against the door behind her, causing the woman to flinch slightly from the sound. Red leaned close to her now so their faces were just inches apart causing her green eyes to widen as she tried to back up but wound up pinned between him and the door instead. “An’ now, cuz of that, yer stuck with me.” His voice had dropped now to a low whisper as his fiery eye sockets locked with her gaze. “That’s why,” he paused pulling her soul towards him now with his red magic causing a shiver to crawl up the woman’s spine as he held her soul in his palm while a smirk replaced the serious look on his face. “No matter what you or anyone else might think, yer mine ‘til I say otherwise. Remember that.” His jealousy betrayed him for a moment as it showed clearly in his pinprick gaze.

Not giving her time to process what was happening or what he had said, he released her soul and pulled the woman to his sternum as the world seemed to spin around them. Frisk gave a slight whimper as her eyes snapped closed. While she had never experienced it personally, she had a feeling he was pulling her through a shortcut with him. The nausea from earlier returned to the woman as her stomach still hadn’t completely settled, and the lingering headache in her temples seemed to intensify as her head gave a throb.

As Frisk felt her feet land on solid ground, she dropped to her knees as her body shook slightly while she put her hand over her mouth trying to push down her desire to throw up again. “H-heh, yer such a wimp Doll. Get up.” Red’s breathless, but sharp mocking tone broke the silence around her.

~o~o~o~

The next five days were by far probably the worst Frisk had found herself enduring since returning to the surface. Not only was her anxiety a daily mental burden on her, but Red’s intimidating presents  on a daily basis as well kept the woman on edge while he was near. While she was trying her best not to let the skeleton get to her, nor show when he was, she was quickly finding herself failing in that regard as her exhaustion began to weigh heavily on her.

The woman’s green eyes stared with a vacant gaze at the ceiling of her room as she lay awake before her alarm even went off. She found herself replaying the day Red had freaked out on her in her mind as she tried to find a reason for the sudden way he had become even more overbearing than he already was.

 _“No matter what you or anyone else might think, yer mine ‘til I say otherwise. Remember that.”_ The words played back in her mind as she caught a glimpse of something in his gaze before it vanished into a blur. _“I’ve never seen Red look at me like that. I know he was trying to make a point… but it felt like more than just that.”_ Frisk thought silently to herself as she tried remembering the look exactly, but he hadn’t given her enough time to register what the look might have been.

The sound of her alarm blaring next to her bed snapped the woman out of her thoughts. Her distant gaze seemed to refocus as she realized it was already 7 am. Frisk sat up and turned off the alarm before drawing her knees up to her chest as she rested her arms on top of them. Today was her and Asgore’s weekly meeting with the surrounding city leaders to discuss business and how the monsters and humans were getting along.

Giving a slight sigh as she stood to her feet and stretched the woman walked over to her closet as she began to rummage through it to figure out what she was going to wear. Her mind wandered again to the last five days. Red had been terribly overbearing, more so than Frisk would have assumed he could be as she seemed to feel his red gaze on her almost constantly although he always kept out of sight.

On top of that she had to keep up with her part of the deal and still keep up with the chores around the house. Red seemed to be going out of his way to keep her unnecessarily busy with stupid little things, not giving her time to herself really until dinner most days. “I almost wish Papy was around a little bit more to tell him off for me, but his ‘training’ with Undyne as he calls it, has been keeping him busy too.” Frisk whispered in a low tone as she pulled a dark blue suit from her closet, deciding it would be good for today.

Once she was changed into the suit and a black long sleeved dress shirt, the woman pinned her Delta symbol to the collar of the suit. She had opted for a silky white tie today, although she would probably come to regret that decision as white rarely worked out for her. She wore her small heeled black dress shoes, and she had opted to keep her hair down today pinning it back with a pair of gold flower barrettes to keep it out of her face.

“Hopefully Red will wear the clothes he made me help him pick out. His normal clothing isn’t going to cut it today and I think the king would wind up livid if he does show up dressed normally. Not to mention I’ll be a little irate too since I spent literally all evening helping him after work trying to shop for clothes for today.” Frisk whispered softly to herself as she touched up her appearance with a bit of cover up to hide the dark circles that had started to appear under her eyes before giving a slight sigh and making her way downstairs now.

The skeleton stood in his normal position in front of the front door leaning against it as he waited for the woman to come down and eat something. Red was visibly uncomfortable as he fidgeted in the outfit he was wearing. His boss and the king had been adamant that he wear something other than his old torn red shirt, pants, and winter jacket today. While the skeleton refused to give up his jacket he had at least given in and dressed in something else. In his attempts to keep Frisk too busy to go out to Grillbyz he had demanded the woman come out with him and help him pick out something for the stupid meeting day they had to go to.

The clothing looked a bit awkward on the big boned skeleton. He now wore a deep red dress shirt that was burgundy in color whose long sleeves were rolled up to just above his elbows; over that he wore a black, cotton vest that was clasped together with three gold buttons that came up halfway from the bottom of the vest. Red wouldn’t be caught dead without his coat as it was one of the few things that gave him some sense of safety; so while it appeared a bit out of place, his winter coat was worn over the top of the shirt and vest ensemble despite the fact that it had come with a nice suit coat that would have suited it better. He had swapped his normal black and yellow striped pants for the long black suit pants that had come with the suit as well. While the shirt, vest and dress jacket all fit him well the pants that came with the outfit were a little bit big in the waist, and swapping it out for the next size down had resulted in the pants being too small. In order to fix this issue Frisk had decided to pick out a pair of suspenders for the skeleton to wear since his pants didn’t have any belt loops for the belt, not to mention the suspenders had looked better with the suit than a belt would have. It was more of a temporary solution since Toriel had indicated she didn’t’ have the time this week to take in the pants, and Frisk wasn’t exactly handy with a sewing machine herself. To complete the outfit Red wore a black and red patterned tie that was messily tied, obviously by someone who had never tied a damn tie in his life; he also had opted for a pair of shiny black dress shoes in place of the sneakers he normally wore. Over all it was the most uncomfortable thing the skeleton had ever “willingly” chosen to wear and he was grateful it was a once a week ordeal, one that he would probably ditch as soon as the meetings were over and he was home.

His irritation at the suit was quite obvious by the scowl on his face, however as he heard the soft footsteps of the human coming down the stairs he tried to shift to a more neutral expression as his pinprick gaze fell to her. Red felt his sternum give a faint thrum as he turned his skull to get a better look at the woman now who had paused halfway down the stairs, looking at the skeleton as well. His mind seemed to freeze as he couldn’t think of any smart ass remarks as the two stared at one another in silence for the moment. How she managed to look so damn good in a guy’s suit, Red would never understand considering he didn’t seem to look nearly as good as she did.

Frisk quickly made her way down the stairs in silence after the two had taken a moment to take in each others’ appearance. The woman felt her heart give a faint flutter at his appearance but pushed the feeling away as a wave of nostalgia washed over her. The way Red looked when dressed in what they had picked out for him reminded her of her life before she had “fallen” down into Mt. Ebbot. While Frisk was trying desperately to avoid her past as much as she could, the skeleton’s appearance still felt so normal despite it definitely not being his normal attire. “Hold still Red.” The woman spoke in a gentle tone as a small smile pulled at the corners of her mouth while she walked up to the skeleton and started undoing his mess of a tie. “I suppose I should have guessed that ties aren’t really your thing huh?” she commented with a hint of amusement in her tone.

 “Err… never tied one b’fore.” Red muttered in a low tone as he stood straight now; he sounded distracted as he watched Frisk retie the tie with practiced ease as he took advantage of their moment of calm closeness to observe the woman, something he hadn’t really been able to do since her time in the Underground. Normally when they were this close it was the result of one of them being pissed off at the other causing both their tempers to flare, so the calm interaction between the two was unusual but Red was kind of enjoying it. His glare softened to a calm stare as he looked at the woman’s face now while she fixed his tie, taking the opportunity to really take in the woman’s appearance as he tried to ignore the second thrumming sensation in his sternum.

Frisk blinked her eyes as confusion flickered across her face at his tone. She glanced up at his face from fixing his tie for just a moment before quickly returning her gaze to his tie as she seemed extra determined to focus on it. _“He looks so… relaxed. It’s nice not being at each other’s throats. It’s also kind of nice to see that calm look in his gaze... I’d almost like to know what he’s thinking about. That’s a big almost though.”_ Frisk tried to suppress a small smile as her gaze softened slightly. “I kind of gathered that from the mess you just had.” she gave a slight chuckle at him as she tightened the tie slightly before standing up now. As their eyes met, Frisk felt her breath catch in her chest a moment before she crossed her arms and looked the skeleton up and down with a scrutinizing gaze. “At least you can clean up well. Although it would look much better with the jacket that actually goes with the outfit instead of your jacket…” Frisk hinted in a soft tone.

“Not gonna happen.”  The skeleton replied with a growl as he crossed his arms over his sternum stubbornly, scowling at the woman in irritation now. The momentary calmness that passed between them was broken as Frisk gave her head a shake and smirked slightly at Red’s reply.

“Yeah I know, I know. At least you caved in for the rest of your clothes though; I don’t think the jacket is going to matter too much. I’m going to eat something quick then we can go.” Frisk said turning quickly making her way into the kitchen. Red’s scowl softened slightly as he watched her back disappear into the kitchen before he frowned and walked over to the couch falling back onto it with a slight sigh.

~o~o~o~

A short while later Frisk walked back out of the kitchen and over to the skeleton who seemed to be asleep. Staring at him a moment, her gaze shifted worriedly to the injury over his eye socket. While it did appear to be healing alright, and she hadn’t noticed him in any pain recently, it was still in the back of her mind that he was injured. “I thought ya weren’t worried ‘bout my skull, Doll.” Red’s deep voice broke the silence as Frisk jumped slightly before taking a step back and putting her hands on her hips.

“I-I’m not! I just noticed it looked like it was healing up pretty good.” The woman quickly snapped at him to cover up her concern. She saw his eye socket partly open now as a smug smirk lifted the corner of his mouth.

“Heh. A’ight, whateva ya say Doll.” Red snickered slightly as he opened his eye sockets now and stood to his feet as he looked at the woman who had the faintest hint of a blush on her cheeks as she glared at him before giving a slightly irritated sigh.

“Are we going or not? I’d much rather be early then right on time to this thing since it’s so mentally draining.” Frisk quickly changed the subject not wanting him to continue to question her. The skeleton gave her a slight nod before tilting his head indicating she should follow him. The woman gave him a questioning stare, wondering why he didn’t just teleport them in here. She had made Papy drive him to the Town Hall so that he knew where he needed to go, so that shouldn’t have been a problem.

“I’m not usin’ a short cut today.” He stated in a short tone causing Frisk to blink her eyes at him. Red opened the door and glanced back at the woman before heading out to the garage.

“O-oh… okay. I mean we might have wanted to leave earlier then.” Frisk commented with a confused look on her face before following behind the skeleton quickly, now worried that they were going to be late. She was also confused on how they were getting there then, since Papyrus would probably rather die than let Red drive his car since it was a gift from his biggest fan, Mettaton, although the taller skeleton would never admit that was the reason why no one else got to drive the car. That only left one other option, Frisk paused in step as she realized this while she stared after Red before following him hesitantly into the garage.

The skeleton walked past the car and over to a white sheet that was covering his pride and joy. Pulling the sheet off he revealed his red and black motorcycle that he had “acquired” through ways he didn’t really want to explain to Frisk. “Red… really?” The woman asked as she eyed the motorcycle apprehensively. The skeleton shifted his red pinprick gaze to her smirking slightly at the question and stare.

“Aw common Doll. Yer not scared are ya?” Red chuckled slightly at her reaction as he tossed her his helmet. The woman caught it but continued to stare at the motorcycle.

“I’m not scared but… I’ve never ridden on one before. Can’t we just take a short cut? I mean I think I’m getting better with the aftermath of them.” Frisk replied in a hesitant tone to which the skeleton gave a slightly irritated sigh at her.

“Look, I gotta conserve my magic if I can. Cuz if someone wants ta cause trouble taday, it’s gonna be on a big scale ta make an impact. In case ya aren’t aware, using a short cut takes quite a bit o’ magic just for myself. Factor in havin’ ta drag ya along too and I’m usually pretty drained ‘til later in the day then I gotta do it all over again ta get ya home.” Red explained with a glare as he crossed his arms over his sternum as he looked at the woman.

Frisk gave a sigh knowing he was right as she nodded her head in agreement with his words. “Alright, alright, I just hope I don’t somehow kill you since I don’t really know the first thing about riding on these things.” The woman sighed slightly as Red opened the garage door and rolled the bike out of it while she followed behind him.

The skeleton easily put his leg over the bike, stabilizing the vehicle before looking back at Frisk who was putting the helmet on her head. She looked at the bike not sure what to do now. “Ya gotta throw yer leg over the seat like I did and straddle the bike. Yer a bit taller than I am so it shouldn’t be too hard for ya ta balance it. Not only that but ya got a little more thigh than I do.” Red snickered slightly as he watched the woman walk towards the bike.

Frisk took a breath to calm her nerves before putting her leg a little clumsily over the seat and using her hands to stabilize herself as she balanced on the seat. Red snorted in laughter at her clumsy movements as he glanced back at her over his shoulder. “Shut up!” she snapped at him.

“Yer gonna hafta scoot yer ass a little closer Doll. Yer also gonna wanna wrap yer arms around my lower ribcage and hold on unless ya wanna go flying off the bike when I go.” The skeleton replied in an amused tone as he watched her glare at him now as her cheeks flared a bright red in nervousness and embarrassment. “Jus’ do it! Or we’re really gonna be late.” He said in a slightly more demanding tone although she could still hear a hint of amusement in his tone.

Frisk gave a sigh realizing he was right. She scooted forward towards the skeleton now pressing the front of her body against his spine as she wrapped her arms around his ribcage gripping his jacket with tightly clenched fists. _“Damn it! How uncomfortable is this?! Why today of all days did he decide to take this stupid bike?! I swear he does this just to test my damn patience!”_ Frisk mentally complained to herself hoping to take her mind off of the heat that had managed to creep into her cheeks as she frowned angrily now as she pressed her helmeted head against his scapula.

“Hold on!” Red spoke to her in a gruff tone as he started the bikes engine which rumbled loudly beneath them. Frisk scrunched her green eyes closed as she pressed her ridged body closer to Red feeling fear prickle in the back of her mind. She felt the bike pull forward as the engine roared to life beneath her.

After a short while, Frisk opened her eyes slightly as her curiosity got the better of her as the sound of the wind blowing past them deafened the woman. Mountain Home was quickly left behind them as Frisk looked at the world rushing past her with a pure look of wonder on her face. Riding in a car was one thing, however this experience was… different. While she was still scared, although she would never admit that to the skeleton in front of her, the sight of cars, trees, bushes, the road… everything rushing past her in a colorful blur gave the woman a feeling of freedom she had never experienced before.

~o~o~o~

After a 40 minute ride to the most central city in the area, Red pulled the bike into a parking lot just off to the left of the Town Hall building where the meetings were held. He cut the engine and stood now straddling the bike as he felt the human’s arms loosen their hold on him. Red felt her body shift off the bike as she stood next to him now as he secured the stand for the bike before shifting off of it as well.

“See. That wasn’t so bad now was it?” The skeleton asked smirking at the human in front of him as she took off the helmet. While she tried to conceal it, her gaze was still wide with amazement as she held the helmet at her side now before giving a slight cough into her hand as she tried to compose herself as she put the helmet in a saddle bag where it was kept.

“It was alright. At least I got here in one piece, that’s what matters.” She responded in a calm tone as she walked past the skeleton to go inside of the building now. Red followed after her, chuckling slightly at her reply. He had felt her death grip loosen from around his rib cage as she grew comfortable with the bike. He had also felt her sit up to look around as her world flew past them in a blur. If that wasn’t proof enough that she had enjoyed the ride a little bit, he had taken note that her cheeks had a faint pink tinge to them once she took off the helmet, probably from excitement, and she didn’t complain about his driving once he had parked the bike.

“I think ya liked it…” He murmured in a low tone following behind the woman as he received a slight glare in reply when she glanced over her shoulder before looking forward as they walked towards the building with Frisk leading the way. Red lazily followed behind the woman with his hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket, although his pinprick gaze flickered around the area keeping an eye socket out for trouble.

Asgore stood waiting near the entry door of the building with his hands tucked behind his back. His gaze dropped to the human as she approached and a small smile lifted the corner of his maw. “You’re running a little late I see.” He commented in a calm tone.

“Uh… well, Sans wanted to conserve his energy as a precaution. We ended up driving here.” Frisk muttered running her hand over the back of her head nervously as she averted her gaze; she was a bit upset at being called out by the king. A soft rumbling chuckle directed her attention back to him as he gave a bit more of a smile to the woman in an attempt to put her at ease.

Asgore’s calm gaze then shifted to the skeleton who stood behind her with his hands in his coat pockets. “I see you took the suggestions on your clothing to heart. You have to keep in mind that you also represent Frisk just as much as she represents us monsters.” The king warned as his gaze turned stern while he looked at Red.

The skeleton gave a slight nod of his head in acknowledgement. “Yeah I had ‘er give me a hand in pickin’ out clothes after talking with you an’ my Boss. Sorry I ain’t givin’ up my coat though.” Red replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders. “As fer me representin’ her, I’ll be sure ta be on my best behavior your highness.” The skeleton reassured the king as best he could that he would stay in line.

Asgore eyed the skeleton hesitantly but said nothing in response to Red and just gave him a faint nod of his head. Turning his attention back to the woman now the king opened the door to the building. “Shall we Ambassador? I know how you are about being late; we don’t have much time to prepare.” Asgore spoke in a calm tone as he let the two walk in ahead of him before he followed after them.

~o~o~o~

Frisk struggled to keep her focus throughout the daylong meeting as she tried hard not to fidget now in her seat while one of the Mayors was updating the two on a reoccurring monster issue that Asgore had tended to shortly after the meeting two weeks ago. While Frisk was happy that the situation was getting resolved now, she needed to get up and move or risk possibly nodding off as her eyes stung with fatigue now.

Asgore glanced at the woman, able to read her better than she realized. He held up his furry paw to silence the speaking group once the current human was finished speaking to them. “If I may, I would like to request a 30 minute rest break in order to allow us all time to stretch, eat and drink something and get our blood flowing again after sitting for some time.” The king spoke as he glanced around the table. A slight murmur of agreement was given from the humans that had gathered as they all stood to their feet. “You should go take a rest break too Ambassador.” Asgore suggested in a knowing tone as he glanced to the woman who looked at him with a wide gaze.

“A-alright. Thank you Your Highness.” She whispered in an embarrassed tone at being caught in her fidgeting. The woman quickly stood to her feet and made her way over to a door that led to a side room attached to the meeting room.

Inside of the room Red stood leaning against a wall between a hallway door and the door to the meeting room. His eye sockets were half closed and his pinprick gaze just barely visible as he dozed off slightly. As soon as the woman walked into the room however, his eye sockets opened quickly as he glanced over, watching Frisk enter.

Glancing over at him, her eyes narrowed slightly at the skeleton. “Enjoying your nap?” she asked in a sarcastic tone as she frowned at him placing her hands on her hips as she did. Giving a slight huff of annoyance she made her way over to the fridge in the corner of the room. Frisk had agreed to the Red’s suggestion of staying out of sight for the time being to keep the city leaders from becoming unsettled with his presents; however it still irritated her that he had the luxury of being able to nod off when he chose to as long as he was able to react quickly, which she hadn’t been able to test except for at the point where she walked in.

Red gave her a slight smirk as he watched her walk over before chuckling slightly. “Yeah, maybe I am. So what? Are ya jealous?” he replied in a teasing tone as he stood straight up now tucking his hands into his coat pocket as he stared at her.

Frisk opted not to reply as she shot him an angry glare before pulling a bottle of water from the fridge, taking a sip of the liquid. Walking over to one of the arm chairs that was in the room, the woman sat down and closed her eyes feeling her exhaustion hit her hard as her body grew heavy and refused to move while her mind grew fuzzy.

It didn’t take more than a minute for Frisk to fall asleep as she leaned sideways and curled her legs up into the chair with her, breathing softly as she did. Red watched her for a moment before glancing at the door as it opened slowly. He saw the king enter and glance at the woman before his calm gaze shifted to the skeleton.

“Do you have an explanation for why she is at this point of exhaustion?” the king asked in a low, demanding tone as he stood towering over the skeleton in front of him now. He had noticed the woman growing progressively more exhausted over the week since Red had taken over as her bodyguard. Perhaps it was getting used to the new situation, but Asgore wondered if it wasn’t more than that as he looked at Red expectantly.

The skeleton merely shrugged his shoulders slightly and frowned. “I’m not sure Your Highness.” He knew it was a lie; he had assumed that he was the reason behind her growing anxiety since he had been staying near her constantly to prevent her from going to Grillbyz again. “Maybe it’s ‘cuz of the change over from the Boss ta me. She’s had ‘im as a bodyguard since the beginnin’.” Red added as he glanced over at the woman now; he hadn’t realized how closely Asgore had been watching over the woman, but now that might land him in some trouble if Asgore assumed he was causing her exhaustion on purpose.

The king shifted his gaze over to the woman as well before glancing back at the skeleton with a narrowed gaze as if debating his story. A slight sigh was given by the monster before he put his hands behind his back and stood tall looking down at Red with a frown. “At her request, I’ve been lenient with letting her stay at your home with you and Papyrus, however if she stays in this state I will intervene. There has to be some cause for her sudden state of unease. I do not wish to take away her freedom, however the woman is important to our life above ground, her well being is also important to me on a personal level. I will not hesitate to do what I feel is necessary for her health.” With that said Asgore turned and walked back towards the meeting room. “Wake her in about 15 minutes, the meeting will resume then.” He instructed with a hint of finality to his tone before leaving the room.

Red watched as his king left the room before glancing at the human clock on the wall making a mental not of the time. His gaze shifted back to the woman as he gave a slight sight of irritation. The king was one factor that could ruin their deal since Red needed to keep it a secret from him that he had taught the human how to separate a monster’s soul from their body. Giving out that kind of knowledge would probably wind up getting Red executed on sight even though Asgore was trying his best to stay peaceful. If it came down to it Red would have to lose his subordinate to the King’s request unless he could come up with a good reason why she should stay with him and Papyrus.

The thought of the possible loss of the woman caused the skeleton to feel a bit of pain in his chest, as if it hurt his soul for some reason to think of this possibility. Scowling deeply as he kept his hands tucked into his coat pockets, the skeleton stared off with a confused look on his face before shaking his skull slightly and returning from his thoughts. “Looks like I’ll jus’ have ta go a lil’ easier on her ta keep her from stayin’ this exhausted.” Red muttered to himself as he looked at the woman sleeping almost peacefully as a strand of hair fluttered slightly in front of her face from her slow breaths.

Red leaned back against the wall between the doors, watching the woman for the time being as she slept while his thoughts swirled in his mind like little demons whispering to him. Finally growing sick of the whispers, and knowing that her nap time was almost up anyways; he lazily strolled over to the woman and prodded her shoulder with one of his digits. “Wakey, wakey Doll. Ya gotta get back ta work.” His low tenor invaded her twilight as she scrunched her eyelids closed tighter and gave a slight groan as she buried her face deeper into the arm rest of the chair.

“Humm… mmm… just five more minutes… please Boss.” She spoke in a muffled voice into the arm of the chair. She didn’t want to get up yet, it couldn’t have been thirty minutes already. Her mind was foggy with sleep still and it felt like she had literally just fallen asleep.

A low chuckle was given from the skeleton as he stared at her a moment, debating with himself just how he wanted to jolt the woman awake. Finally a wicked grin took its place on his face as his red gaze glinted mischievously while his red pinpricks drifted back to the woman. Red knew that, for whatever reason, she always managed to get flustered whenever anyone flirted with her as he had done it himself once or twice just to throw her off and keep himself from being too predictable. Her reactions were priceless and entertaining to the skeleton.

Red walked around to the side of the chair where Frisk’s head rested; he put his skeletal hand on the arm rest causing it to sag slightly to get the woman’s attention. Frisk gave a quiet groan before her green gaze fluttered open and shifted over to the skeleton who had by this time leaned downwards so that their faces were quite close. His expression was still mischievous as his grin reminded the woman of the Cheshire Cat’s when he was causing trouble. Frisk felt her pulse quicken as she grew worried about just what the skeleton was thinking; that grin he was giving her had always meant trouble for her in the past.

“Sure… I’ll give ya five more minutes, on one condition. Ya gotta answer a couple questions I got for ya.” Red replied still grinning at her the same way as a confused stare replaced the worried one she had been giving the skeleton.

“Questions? Like what?” Frisk asked in an uncertain tone not knowing what his train of thought might be. What would he have to ask her that he would have to make a deal for? He chuckled slightly at the woman as his eye sockets narrowed at her slightly while he continued to grin.

“Do you go to New Librarby frequently?” Red asked randomly as he tilted his skull and stared at the woman in front of him now.

Frisk frowned slightly as she stared at the skeleton, not exactly understanding his curiosity. “Erm… I guess I’ve been going there occasionally yes. Why do you ask?”

Red couldn’t help the slight snicker that escaped him before he replied. “B’cause I think I’m interested in checkin’ ya out.” His grin widened in his amusement as the tip of his red, phantom tongue stuck out at her teasingly. Frisk’s eyes widened slightly before she glanced away from the skeleton giving a slight sigh as the tips of her cheeks turned a faint pink color as she tried to not give him the satisfaction of getting a reaction out of her.

The woman sat up with a defeated sigh, quickly assuming what the nature of the rest of the “questions” he had for her were. “Alright, alright I’m getting up.” She muttered in a low tone not wanting to walk back into the meeting with her face bright red from his teasing.

“Aww damn, an’ here I was enjoy’n yer fine print.”Red chuckled slightly as the woman glanced over at him with a slight glare before standing to her feet as she avoided eye contact with the skeleton, not wanting him to see the bright pink blush that had crept further onto her cheeks now.

After a minute of listening to the skeleton chuckle at her reaction the woman spoke. “Red… do you know why you remind me of my favorite candy bar?” Frisk asked in a low tone as she kept her gaze focused on the wall in front of her now instead of facing him.

“Why’s that Doll?” the skeleton asked with a curious tilt of his skull as she stopped him from continuing his flirting with a question of her own.

“Because you’re semi-sweet and half nuts.” The woman felt her mouth tug slightly into a smug grin at the stunned silence before the skeleton gave a slight snort of laughter at her attempt to counter his flirting with her comeback.

Frisk missed Red’s wide grin as he closed his eye sockets and linked his hands behind his skull. “Well if that’s the case, why don’t ya make sure I melt in yer mouth and not in yer hand.” The skeleton spoke in a suggestive tone as he opened one eye socket while he peered at the woman waiting for her reaction.

Frisk’s eyes widened at his response as her cheeks flared brightly in embarrassment. “Red!” the woman shrieked slightly turning quickly to face him as she clenched her hands at her sides. The skeleton couldn’t help but double over with laughter at her reaction; it was the best one he’d gotten out of her in quite some time. “Shut up!” The woman growled at him as her gaze narrowed into a glare before she turned quickly and stomped towards the door, her face bright red now. She wasn’t quite sure how she was going to explain to Asgore why her face was red, but facing him was better than staying in the room with the skeleton as he laughed even louder at her demand.

~o~o~o~

Frisk made it through the remainder of the day without much of an issue. Aside from the puzzled look the king had given her upon entering the meeting room, he didn’t say anything about the blush that had managed to spread across her cheeks. The rest of the day was uneventful for the pair as commonplace issues and questions surfaced from the humans that had joined them. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary and nothing that Frisk personally couldn’t smooth over for the king with her logical thinking.

It came as a surprise to the woman when Asgore asked to speak with her before they left the room. Frisk paused in her movements of collecting her notes before giving a nod of agreement. That was how she ended up seated across from the king as she fidgeted nervously with her hands, uncertain just what he wanted to talk about.

“Frisk.” He spoke in a deep, commanding voice as he looked to the woman with a calm, gentle gaze. “There’s no need to be so nervous about speaking with me. I try to make a conscious effort to come off as nonthreatening as possible.” Asgore looked at the woman with a small smile turning up the corner of his maw as he tried to put her at ease.

“Ah… I apologize, Your Highness. I just wasn’t sure if there was a problem or if I had done something wrong.” Frisk replied in a meek sounding tone as she bowed her head slightly to the king before her.

“No child. You’ve done nothing wrong. I just wanted to make sure your living arrangements were still alright for you, or if you would be more comfortable at Castle Home instead.” Asgore offered as he laced his fuzzy fingers in front of his maw while his yellow and red gaze stared straight at the woman, searching her features for any signs of hesitance.

Frisk blinked her eyes in surprise at the king as he spoke. She knew he was perceptive but to assume that it was thanks to the skelebro’s, mostly just Red, that she had become exhausted reminded her just how careful she had to be around the king. The woman shook her head gently in response to the offer. “I’m fine Your Highness. It’s just been a little stressful getting used to having Sans as a bodyguard as opposed to Papyrus. They each have a unique energy to them and I’m not used to Sans’ being around me so much yet. I’ll be alright by the open meetings next week, I promise.” The woman replied bowing her head to the king who stared at her seriously for the moment as if trying to read her body language instead of her words.

“If that is your choice then I won’t push anything at this time.” The king replied with an air of acceptance in his tone as he gave a slight nod of his head. “Just keep in mind that you have another option should you need it Ambassador.” Asgore added as he sat tall looking down at the woman.

The corner of Frisk’s mouth lifted up into a slight smile as she felt the tips of her cheeks warm pleasantly at his offer. Asgore really could be a teddy bear; then again he could be a murderous, demonic goat monster as well depending on the situation, however right now that teddy bear side was quite predominant.

“Thank you Your Highness. I’m fine though; living with Papyrus and Sans isn’t bad and I’m not a burden on you or Lady Toriel either, so it all works out.” The woman replied brushing off his concern. She knew that it was a struggle for the king and his previous wife to get a long at times, but Asgore had asked for her assistance. Although the goat woman wasn’t all there at times, she was good at negotiations, intimidation, and keeping schedules for him and Frisk in line and making sure they were organized.

“I think it’s time for us to depart then. Try to get some rest today if you can.” The goat monster spoke gently as he stood then waited for the ambassador to stand as well before the two entered the side room where Red was waiting.

~o~o~o~

Frisk stood with Asgore just inside of the entrance to the Town Hall. They had seen Asgore’s car pull up and now they were just waiting on Red to come around with his bike as well. The woman stood quietly staring out the door’s window pane as she let her mind wander briefly; it was the sound of her phone receiving a text message that snapped her out of her thoughts.

Pulling the phone from her pocket her eyes widened slightly as she saw the name “Grillby” flash across her phone screen. Thanks to Red’s overbearing presents she hadn’t even had time to stop back into the bar since the night he had walked her home. Quickly realizing that he could have taken her absents as her avoiding him now the woman tapped the message on her phone.

 _“Good afternoon Beautiful. If you weren’t too busy tonight I was hoping you’d stop by the bar. Or maybe tomorrow if tonight is too short of notice?”_ Frisk gently bit her lower lip as she stared at the message, thinking carefully about her reply. Maybe getting out would help the anxiety that she had building up from dealing with Red so much, then again he’d had a literal fit when she had gone out on her own before.

 _“Hi Grillby. I’ll try to come out tonight. Could use a drink after this long week too. I’ll let you know later on.”_ Frisk hesitantly replied as she started and deleted the message several times before deciding on what she wanted to say. She didn’t want to place the blame on Red even though he had been keeping her busy this week.

The sound of the motorcycle pulling up outside could be heard, as well as a slightly irritated grunt that came from the king as he eyed the vehicle that the skeleton drove with a narrowed gaze. Frisk glanced down as another message came through.

 _“I’ll be sure to keep your favorite spot saved for you and keep enough supplies on hand for a lot of Sex in a Volcano.”_ Frisk stared with wide eyes at the text as she felt her cheeks grow warm although a slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she stifled a small laugh at his words.

“Shall we?” Asgore’s voice invaded her thoughts as she looked up at the king giving him a nod of agreement before stepping outside past the entrance door. As the two exited the building they could see a small group of protesters that had gathered to fight their efforts. Taking a moment to make sure she would be able to remain calm this time, Frisk walked forward in stride with Asgore as the two made their way to their respective drivers.

The woman’s gaze fell to Asgore’s escort, Undyne, who stood with her arms crossed next to his car now. She noticed that the fish monster appeared to be just a little more worn than she had been during their previous encounter when she had been nothing but smug with Frisk. She saw the monster’s working eye fall to her as well, and although it was unnoticeable to the human, Undyne’s gaze narrowed slightly as she suppressed a faint growl of irritation at what appeared to be a slight smirk that lifted the corner of the woman’s mouth.

Frisk would never admit it out loud since she was trying to be as peaceful as possible, but the sight of Undyne looking worn and maybe just a little more worse for wear made the woman feel a little bit of satisfaction at the situation. She was glad that Papy had always been able to give Undyne a run for her money, and while switching the roles of the skelebro’s might not have been ideal for Frisk, at least it appeared that the young skeleton was handling the situation as best he could without appearing weak to the Captain of the guards.

The woman kept her thoughts on the situation as she ignored the jeers and dark whispers of the crowd as they tried to get a reaction out of her. Frisk couldn’t ignore the crowd completely though as she saw someone dressed in dark clothing with a sweat shirt hood covering their face disappearing into the crowd out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head slightly the woman’s green gaze searched for whoever it had been, however she didn’t see any one lingering in between the other protesters.

She did however catch sight of a news reporter and crew filming them and felt panic fill her. She had explicitly requested that news reporters were not allowed at the site of the meetings and they had to request personal interviews with Asgore and Toriel. Frisk didn’t say why necessarily, just that it was not necessary for their push to make peace to be publicized. In reality she didn’t want anyone to know the face of the Ambassador to keep her own identity hidden for personal reasons that she really didn’t want to share with even Asgore.

Quickly the woman tried to draw up her soul power and shield herself with her aura hoping it would interfere with the camera equipment. Thankfully the blue aura was faint enough that humans themselves wouldn’t notice it, however the faint grunt from the king indicated he felt her soul energy spike. Looking over at him with a worried stare she gestured with a slight nod of her head to the camera that was aimed at the two of them to which Asgore gave a slight nod of his head as the two picked up their pace.

Red arched a boney brow as the woman approached him with her soul power flared around her. “Hand me the helmet, quickly.” She demanded in a low tone as she approached him quickly. Blinking his eye sockets Red quickly obeyed the request but not without a confused look crossing his features as the woman put the helmet on and was on the bike without pause this time. Drawing herself close to the skeleton now, he heard her speak again. “Please, drive as fast as you can. I need to get away from here as quickly as possible.” Again her tone said it wasn’t a request but a demand. While the skeleton wasn’t used to that from the woman and he normally would have argued, the urgency of her tone told him that now wasn’t the time.

“Hold on then, Doll. Git ready ta fly.” He said revving the bike engine before the vehicle pulled away quickly from in front of the Town Hall. The world turned into a blur around them as they were far away from the building and the reporter in a few minutes.

Once Frisk felt satisfied that they were far enough away she dropped the aura she had created and felt her head spin slightly as she gripped the skeleton in front of her tighter as the combination of the light headedness and the movements of the bike caused her stomach to lurch slightly. _“Breath, Frisk. Just take deep breaths. You’ll be alright.”_ She tried to encourage herself not to throw up.

~o~o~o~

As Red pulled his bike into the driveway of the house in Mountain Home, he slowed to a stop feeling the woman literally jump off the bike as she quickly tossed the helmet off her head and leaned forward with her hands on her knees gasping and panting slightly as if she had just run a marathon. Putting down the kickstand, he crossed his arms over his sternum, staring at the human with a calm gaze as he watched her now. He didn’t really feel bad for the woman, since she knew the consequences of trying to use her soul power outside of the Underground where the concentration of Monster Magic had amplified it. Doing it out here usually left her weakened, which is why he knew she didn’t do it often.

“Th-thank you… for getting out of there so q-quick.” Frisk murmured as she felt her stomach settle enough for her to talk. A faint grunt of acknowledgement was given from the skeleton as he opened the garage door to park his baby there. While the woman was normally alright with Red not really expressing his concern for her a slight pang in her chest told her she was a bit disappointed that he didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned for her nor accepting of her gratitude. _“Hehehe, I don’t know what you expected from him. The skeleton isn’t exactly very emotional, and yet for some reason you got attached to him. I don’t think I’ll ever understand your thought process Frisk.”_ The little voice in the back of her mind chuckled darkly at her disappointment.

_“I am not attached to him. I don’t care how he feels about me personally. For all I care he can…”_

_“LIAR.”_ The word echoed almost painfully in her mind as Frisk flinched and put her hand over her eye as a faint throb rattled her skull. _“If you really felt that way, we wouldn’t be here right now would we? You can try to lie to yourself Frisk, hehe. However I won’t let you lie to me, because you don’t like hearing the truth and I get amusement out of your discomfort.”_ The voice replied in a dark, mischievous tone. Frisk frowned at the words; she ignored her rolling stomach now as she picked up the helmet and walked over to where the skeleton had parked the bike, putting it away before walking past Red without another word and heading inside.

As the woman disappeared into her room she pulled her phone from her pocket and glanced at the conversation with Grillby, still debating with herself about it. As she sat on her bed in thought a faint tapping on her window alerted the woman to someone being outside. Frowning, she walked over to the window and looked down to see Flowey shooting his pellets gently at her window. Opening it she leaned out. “Hi there.” She called down in a soft voice to the frowning flower.

“I’m coming up Frisk.” The flower replied in a stern tone as he began winding his way up a wooden trellis that she had put near her window when the house was built. Once at the window sill Frisk extended her arm for Flowey to wrap around as his vines grabbed her securely and she brought him in.

“Hi Azzy.” The woman spoke again in greeting as she walked over to the old wood bucket they had used in the Underground letting the monster plant his roots there. “Long time no see.” The woman flashed him a slightly forced smile as she looked at Flowey.

“Frisk, I think you and I have A LOT of catching up to do. I’ve been hearing a few things that you haven’t taken the time to tell me about while you’ve been at the Castle…” The flower frowned as an irritated look crossed his face now. “And here I thought I was your best friend…” A faint pout could be seen on the flower’s face as he stared at Frisk.

“Oh… Azzy you are. It’s just been… a very hectic week for me and I haven’t gotten to visit the field at all, and it’s not something to talk about at the castle. We’ll talk now I promise…” Frisk frowned feeling bad that her friend felt neglected. Flowey always had a knack for making her feel guilty since he had been literally her only friend and comrade in the Underground and his sarcastic disposition had at least been a source of humor for her in their dark times as he tried to find ways to keep her spirits up. “There’s a lot to tell though, and… I might have plans tonight. Let me figure out where to start.” Frisk sighed as she leaned back on her bed and looked at the ceiling above her.

“Hmm?” The flower tilted his head at the news. “Is it with the Smiley Trash Bag or the Walking Match Stick?” he asked with a frown. Frisk’s eyes widened as she glanced at him when he mentioned Grillby. “Yeah, this is why we’re talking. Now.” Flowey demanded as he crossed his leaves in front of him waiting for the woman, whose cheeks became a faint red with embarrassment, to begin speaking to him. Frisk took a deep breath as she began to catch her friend up with just what had been going on in her life during the last whirlwind of a week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to Deal With the Devil lovely readers!  
> I would just like to say that I had a completely different plan for this chapter and while trying to finish it up it just wasn't coming together so I had to scrap part of what I had written and try again. Sometimes though that's what's for the best. That being said I did want to include more in this chapter but I started thinking it might be best to end it here since I am already running late on the update because I dd the rewrite.  
> Something that I wanted to put in without it being too forced was how all of the timeline resets have affected Frisk mentally. It's not something I see addressed too often and it's something I wanted to address with my story. Human minds are strong but we can be affected quite a lot by traumatic experiences. So as you've probably noticed in the previous chapters Frisk experiences PTSD in the form of night terrors varying from her multiple pacifist runs, and in case it wasn't obvious by this chapter her genocide run as well. The day terror though is something new for her, and that's why she's struggling with her anxiety in this chapter granted she bounced back from it pretty well, only because she knows she's got a whole race counting on her to be at her best so she CAN'T afford to dwell on it.  
> Also I paid a little personal homage to Mobtale in this chapter as it's another of my favorite Undertale AU's and actually has inspired this story in the same way Underfell has, so I guess you could say this story is a mashup of Mobtale and Underfell as it has characteristics of both. Red's formal outfit is actually based off of a friend I know IRL, he showed up one day dressed in a similar style and I had been struggling with Red's formal outfit design up until that point.  
> I'm not sure if Red seems too random in this chapter or not. He's a character that I feel has extreme mood swings depending on the situation, but maybe it's causing me to portray him as a little too random. I'm not sure but I would definitely like to hear the readers opinions on it so I can either address it in the upcoming chapters or just let it be. That being said he's having a hard time dealing with his jealousy since he doesn't exactly understand that emotion or why he's feeling it since he still hasn't realized just how he feels about Frisk, although it's slowly becoming apparent to him that he feels something.  
> One last note is I still suck at puns, pick up lines, and flirting XD. I think I have the mental abilities of a rock when it comes to that kind of thing unfortunately.  
> I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 4 of Deal With the Devil! As always I thank you for all the support in the form of comments, faves and watches! It's appreciated so very much! :3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: If you're more of a fan of the original Undertale then you may not really enjoy this story quite as much. This story will have a darker atmosphere to it. Violence, swearing, potentially suggestive content, and darker themes are just a few things to mention. Basically put it won't be a bunch of sunshine and rainbows. Also I will be referring to Sans as Red throughout the story as that's the nickname I gave him.

Chapter 5

As she talked with Flowey, Frisk quickly realized that with the monsters now living a relatively peaceful life they needed something else to keep them occupied. Rumors, both true and false, spread like a wildfire through Mountain Home, meaning that nothing could remain a secret for very long. Somehow word of the night Grillby had walked her home as well as their kiss had managed to make its way to Castle Home from the darkness of her doorstep. News of Red’s newly appointed position as well as his overbearing presents over Frisk had also spread through the monster town as well, meaning that suspicions about the skeleton’s actions were high as the monsters wondered if his actions were due to the woman’s possibly romantic relationship with his best friend.

Frisk gave a groan as she draped her arm over her face while Flowey explained the situation that she had been unaware of. The woman had been the subject of rumors when she had been in middle school and high school due to her family but she had thought she had escaped that phase of her life. “Well at least Asgore and Toriel aren’t treating it any differently that I can tell anyways… although the king did seem a bit concerned with me living here.” Frisk muttered to the flower from underneath her arm.

“Well… Asgore still scares any monster for the most part, so no one really talks with him around. Toriel probably just ignores the rumors, or is too busy listening to the voices in her head to really take notice. Either way neither of them have brought up the rumors while I’ve been sneaking around.” Flowey responded as he watched the woman who appeared to be trying to get a grip on the idea that she was causing more waves than what she wanted to.

“Yeah… I don’t really expect that they would really care about a rumor unless it was something life threatening. I wonder if Papy knows too. I haven’t really seen him in this last week since he’s been out until late thanks to his guard work.” Frisk replied as she laid her arm on the bed next to her now staring up at the ceiling in thought.

“Erm… I’m pretty sure he’s aware. Undyne decided to try to cause some trouble and bait him into a sparring match by taunting him about the situation.” Flowey replied hesitantly, pausing as the woman looked over at him with a wide eyed stare. “Heh, who knew that stupid skeleton was so quick on his feet? Undyne wasn’t exactly prepared for his reaction. Don’t worry Papyrus is fine, he gave her a good fight for fanning the rumor flames.” A smirk lifted the corner of Flowey’s mouth as he spoke.

Frisk grew silent as she stared up at the ceiling in a pensive state. She was reflecting on the recent events that had occurred, both with the situation with Red and the knowledge she now had of the rumors that had been circulating. While she had been explaining everything that had happened to Flowey, the monster had asked a few interesting questions that Frisk honestly had no answers to, and they had mostly been about Red and his actions.

“So you’re going out to see the walking match stick tonight right?” Flowey’s voice suddenly cut through the silence interrupting the woman’s thoughts. Frisk frowned as she glanced over at him before inhaling deeply.

“I mean, I AM considering it yes. Not that I want to fan the flames any more, but I think he at least deserves to know that I wasn’t avoiding him this last week. I’m just not completely sure if it’s a good idea at the moment.” Frisk admitted as she sat up on her bed now and looked at the flower who frowned at the woman in confusion. “I can deal with rumors; it’s just bullshit that someone starts to keep everyone entertained. It’s more or less I’d rather not have Red freak out on me again. That caused me a lot of problems the last time it happened, not to mention we’re at least getting a long a little bit at the moment.” Frisk replied pausing as she felt the phone in her pocket vibrate as she heard the text message chime ring out. Deciding it could wait for the time being, the woman rested her arms on her knees as she stared ahead.

“You have no reason to be considerate of the smiley trash bag! He’s been causing you so much trouble this week I say you should go out whether he likes it or not! Deal or not, it’s not fair that he’s trying to control everything you do!” Flowey snapped loudly in irritation as he glared at the woman with his beady gaze. Frisk glanced over at him before a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“Thanks Azzy. I appreciate your concern. However, I really need to eat something before I even consider doing anything else tonight. I’ve only had a small breakfast this morning and I’m going to pass out if I don’t get something in my stomach soon.” The woman replied as she stood to her feet and grabbed Flowey’s bucket off of her night stand and made her way quietly downstairs, carrying the bucket in her hands as she went.

Walking quietly into the kitchen, the woman set her friend down on the table and walked over to the fridge opening the door as she looked through it to find something that would suffice for a quick dinner. As she dug through the fridge Flowey spoke again. “I’m not concerned about you really, I just think you need to quit giving a damn about the skeleton and do something for yourself for a change. Since you seemed to like the kiss you got, I think maybe you should—“

“I never said anything about liking the kiss, Azzy.” Frisk quickly interrupted him as she felt her cheeks flush slightly at his assumption. She kept herself busy looking through the fridge so that the flower wouldn’t see her blush of embarrassment.

“Well in that same regard, you never said you DIDN’T like it either. Not to mention from what you’ve told me, you didn’t exactly make him stop when he did it.” The flower replied with a slight smirk on his face as he stared at the woman’s back waiting for a response.

Frisk gave a slight cough as she cleared her throat at the monster’s words. “I also had been drinking as well. My mind wasn’t at one hundred percent, and my reaction time was slowed down. I didn’t have time to process what was happening and stop it before it was too late and he already did it.” Frisk defended herself quickly as she grabbed a plastic container from the fridge that had some leftover spaghetti that Papyrus had made.

Flowey watched with a frown now as she put the food in the microwave and began heating it up before the woman sat down at the table, pulling out her cell phone as she distracted herself. “Really Frisk? Are you seriously going to blame the fact that you had a few drinks, and that’s why you didn’t do anything? What kind of moron do you think I am?” The flower snapped at her with a frown.

“Azzy, if you don’t pipe down and drop it, I might just stick you in the freezer for a time out. We both know how much you like the cold. If the time we spent in Snowdin is any indication that is.” Frisk threatened him in a calm tone as she glanced up from her reply to the text message she had gotten earlier. The flower monster snickered slightly at her defensive reply however opted to drop it for the time being since he knew she would probably do it if provoked enough. Frisk stared at her phone for a good ten seconds before releasing a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding as she replied to Grillby’s inquiry of whether she would be coming tonight or not.

~o~o~o~

As the two spoke about various random things that had been happing in the last seven days, the sound of the front door suddenly slamming open startled both the flower monster and human. Frisk’s fight or flight mode that had been instilled in her kicked in as she quickly grabbed Flowey’s bucket from the table and pressed herself up against the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room, covering Flowey’s mouth with her hand as she did.

The woman stood rigidly with her back against the wall, she didn’t dare breath as she tried to figure out what had just happened without exposing the two of them to being seen. Normally it was Red’s doing when the door slammed open like that, but the woman knew that the shorter skeleton was upstairs since she’d heard him close the door to his room earlier. He easily could have used a short cut to go outside, but Frisk was positive she’d heard the sound of him moving around in his room as she walked by on her way down to the kitchen.

The sound of someone grumbling irritably under their breath could be heard from the living room. Frisk breathed a faint sigh as she quickly realized the voice belonged to Papyrus. She wasn’t happy that he seemed angry, but she was definitely relieved it was him who had thrown the door open. Just as she was about to move away from the wall and greet the skeleton, the sound of another voice caused her mouth to snap shut as she bit her lower lip and kept herself pressed against the wall.

“Papyrus! Darling, you seem soooo stressed tonight! Please, won’t you let me help you relax a little bit? I’m realllly good at helping… hehehe.” A robotic sounding voice cooed at the skeleton as a small giggle was given causing Frisk to resist the urge to give a slight groan at her luck.

 _“Please, please Papy just take him upstairs! I don’t want to do this today…”_ Frisk found herself mentally praying that the taller skeleton would just give her a minute to get out of the kitchen and the house.

It was always a pain in the ass when Mettaton came over, especially because he was always suspicious with Frisk about her relationship with the taller skeleton. No matter how many times she tried to knock it into the robot’s thick metal skull that she viewed Papyrus as basically an older brother, he never listened and their interactions always ended up being tension filled and passive aggressive. Even Papyrus couldn’t talk Mettaton out of his fits of jealousy, as it usually ended up in a full blown argument between the two although Papyrus could care less about whether the robot was jealous or not.

“NEYH! YOU REALLY ARE PERSISTANT YOU KNOW THAT?!” she heard the skeleton grumble loudly in annoyance before she heard him sit down on the couch. The sound of Mettaton’s boots tapping against the floor could be heard as he made his way around the back of the couch.

“Darling, I’m always persistent! I am your biggest fan after all… and as such I feel that you deserve only the best treatment from me.” The last part of Mettaton’s reply to Papyrus was barely audible from the kitchen. Frisk resisted the urge to groan as she ran her hand over her face now; she realized quickly that leaving the kitchen now would only start a fight between her and the robot for interrupting the two and Frisk honestly didn’t have the energy to fight.

Glancing around the room, the woman’s gaze fell to the window over the sink, she quietly walked over and opened it. “We’re sneaking out through here. I’m not going back upstairs right now.” Frisk whispered to Flowey who looked at her with a grateful stare before he wrapped his roots around the woman’s arm as she held him out the window so that he could get to the ground.

Once he was out it was Frisk’s turn as she got up onto the counter as quietly as she could before slowly starting to make her way out the window. Her suit was definitely not meant for sneaking out windows and now she wished she had changed out of it. Just as Frisk was turning her body in the window to drop out a faint pop came from the kitchen causing her eyes to widen as she stared at the shorter skeleton in front of her with wide eyes now.

“For fuck’s sake…” Red grumbled slightly as he glanced over his shoulder when he heard the two in the living room now that he had teleported down to the kitchen to raid the fridge. Rolling his red gaze slightly he looked forward now and paused in step for a moment before he arched an eye socket curiously at the woman who stared back at him for a minute before dropping to the ground outside with a slight grunt.

Her head was just barely visible as she stood looking at Red through the window now. “I’m not sticking around while Mettaton’s here. I know you can track me down so if you’re that angry come find me.” The woman said in a soft voice before running off after Flowey, who had called out to her.

Red frowned slightly but just watched the woman go deciding it wasn’t worth the effort to chase after her at the moment. He had decided he needed to lay off her anyways and let her have a bit of freedom in order to get rid of some of her anxiety so that the king didn’t jump on his case again about her exhaustion. Giving a faint, irritated sigh the skeleton began digging through the fridge looking for something to eat.

A short while after Frisk had escaped from the house, Red stood heating his food up in the microwave when a faint buzz and text message chime came from the kitchen table. Glancing over, the skeleton noticed Frisk’s cell phone had been left sitting on the table in her rush to get out. Staring at it as he saw the screen light up, Red debated with himself for a second before shrugging his shoulders and making his way over to the phone, glancing down at the screen as his curiosity won and he decided to see who was texting the woman.

His red gaze stared at the screen, before narrowing slightly as his phalanges instinctively balled up into a fist resting on the table in front of him now. Giving a low growl, the skeleton turned and stomped back over to the microwave crossing his arms over his sternum as he glared at the machine in question waiting for the food to finish heating up. Unable to stand still, his arms uncrossed as his hand rested on the counter top while his phalanges drummed against it in agitation.

Frisk breathed a sigh of relief as she distanced herself from the house without Red following after her. Apparently either he had decided she wasn’t worth the effort to teleport after or he had just decided to give her a break. Either way the woman was grateful for the moment of peace she was given as she walked quickly towards Grillby’z Bar before pausing in her steps as she stared at the ground in thought for a moment. She knew going to see the flamesman would only cause her trouble and keep the rumors going. Inhaling deeply at this thought she gathered her determination, knowing she needed to do this so there would be no reason for miscommunication between the two.

She was simply going there to make sure Grillby understood that she was not put off by what had happened between them, nor the rumors she had been made aware of. It was her opinion that he deserved that much. Maybe a drink and she would be on her way back to the house, hopefully by that time Mettaton and Papyrus would have moved to somewhere more private, and maybe Red would be asleep as well. Frisk could always hope for an ideal outcome for everything, although she knew in her gut it rarely worked out like that.

~o~o~o~

A short while later Frisk stood outside the bar, staring at the building as she debated with herself some more before inhaling deeply and making her way inside. As she entered the bar and walked towards the counter, a quick shift of her gaze revealed several pairs of eyes shifting to her direction for a second before turning back to what they were doing. She kept her head held high and tried to calm her nerves so that she didn’t attract attention from the monsters who were probably hoping for something more to gossip about.

The one monster who didn’t ignore her presents though was the flamesman himself. Frisk saw Grillby look up from what he had been doing and cast a slight grin her way. Frisk swore she felt a shift in his aura, as if it had grown warmer upon seeing she had entered, however the woman pushed the thought from her mind. _“You need to focus Frisk. You can’t get distracted by his charm, this is supposed to be quick and easy, don’t over complicate things.”_ She mentally reminded herself as she pulled up her normal seat at the bar.

“Good evening, Beautiful. I’m glad you decided to grace me with your presents.” Grillby chuckled slightly as his grin shifted to more of a slight smirk now while his purple gaze never left her. He would never admit it to the woman of course, but in all honesty he had been worried his move on her had pushed her away from him, if not that then possibly the rumors that had been going around had done so. After not hearing from her, the flamesman had decided to take the initiative and contact her himself.

“It’s been a… difficult week. I feel like maybe you were expecting me to contact you sooner. Sorry about that.” Frisk replied feeling a sense of awkwardness pass between the two as she sought a way to make it less awkward.

“From what I’ve heard you’ve been working yourself to the… ahem… bone.” Grillby hinted as he poured her drink for her. If nothing else this one would be on him since she hadn’t asked for it. Frisk gave a not so ladylike snort of amusement at the comment.

“I wouldn’t say that, it’s just been hectic for me with positions being changed around. It’s for the better of course, but it hasn’t exactly been a fluid transition.” The woman replied quickly not wanting Grillby to place the blame on Red. “I’ve been busy making sure the transition goes as smoothly as possible, unfortunately that doesn’t leave me with much personal time. I assure you if I would have had the time and energy I would have been…”

“You don’t need to explain yourself, Beautiful.” Grillby quickly cut off the woman’s words as he set the glass down in front of her, the smirk still on his face but his purple gaze seemed to be a bit softer as he spoke. “I understand your Ambassador duties keep you busy, not only that but I imagine you’re probably tired after dealing with everything you have to handle day in and day out.” The flamesman replied as he leaned on the counter closer to the woman who he had managed to trap with his gaze once again as she felt herself freeze in place. “I just wanted to know if what had happened or the rumors floating around had pissed you off enough that it ruined any po—“ Grillby started to get to the point of why he had wanted to talk to her when he froze, his words stopping as the flamesman glanced over at the door. “Hold that thought, Beautiful.” His voice was calm however his navy blue figure backed away as he put a respectable distance between himself and the woman.

“What?” Frisk asked giving him a quizzical look before she heard the front door slam open with a little bit more force than necessary. Quickly turning to face the door the woman felt her heart give a hard thud in her chest as her anxiety spiked. Walking through the doorway was none other than Red. The shorter skeleton had an eerily calm air to him which threw Frisk off as she blinked her eyes, watching as he walked towards the bar now.

With the appearance of the skeleton, it was obvious that the attention of the other customers was now directed at the three that the rumors had been going around about. Red walked forward, his gaze never wavering from Grillby or Frisk as it remained calm. It looked to him as though Frisk had just gotten there which meant that he had pretty damn good timing if he did say so himself

“H-hey Red. You decide to make a break for it too?” The woman asked in a hesitant sounding tone as she watched him approach the bar. The skeleton remained quiet for a moment as he decided how to respond to the question.

“Yeah, those two were gettin’ a little annoyin’ to listen to…” Red spoke in a neutral sounding tone as he walked past Frisk and took a seat on her right hand side near the wall of the building. “So I thought I’d come visit my buddy’s bar, since it’s been a while since we’ve caught up ‘n all.” He shifted his gaze to the flamesman who chuckled in spite of himself and smirked as he nodded his head in agreement.

“Indeed. You do have a tendency to make very infrequent visits here my friend. Although I assume it has something to do with all the debt you’ve managed to rack up while we were in the Underground.” Grillby bit back in a neutral tone although the smirk on his features grew just a little more as he threw a side glance at the skeleton.

Red gave a slight snort of annoyance, unconcerned with the reply. If Grillby had really been upset by his lack of payment, he knew the flamesman would make it obvious. His phalanges fiddled with something in the pocket of his coat as the skeleton remained quiet debating his next words that threatened to spill from his mouth.

Resisting the urge to snap on both the woman, and the monster who was supposedly his best friend, the skeleton pulled Frisk’s phone from his pocket and slid it across the counter to her. “Ya left that sittin’ on the kitchen table when ya made yer break for it. Figured you wouldn’t want it sittin’ around fer jus’ anyone ta find.” The words were spoken in a forced calm as he stared at the woman while he rested his mandible in his hand.

Frisk turned looking at the phone that had slid over to her now. She gently bit her lip as the pieces seemed to fall into place in her mind. Sending a slight side glance at Grillby she realized that the most recent round of texts between the two were probably still pulled up, and the woman didn’t normally care enough to keep her phone on constant lock down. Clearing her throat slightly as she pocketed the phone Frisk turned to face the flamesman now, her posture extremely straight and tense as she looked at him. “I’ll buy for Red tonight too. Whatever you feel like drinking.” She offered in a soft tone, not sure just what to expect at this point.

“Heh… ain’t ya jus’ feelin’ generous tanight.” Red commented with a slight growl to his words before he could force it back down. “Whatever ya feel like mixin’ fer me then Grillbz.” The skeleton directed his attention to the flamesman as he shifted his position so he was sitting towards the bar now. Grillby stared at Red with a calm gaze for a moment as if sizing him up, before deciding on what would probably take a little bit of the edge off of the skeleton’s forced calm aura.

The rest of the visit was pretty much an uncomfortable mess for Frisk as she and Grillby made a little bit of small talk, both silently deciding that their previous conversation before Red had shown up would not be brought up for the time being. Grillby and Red took a few “good natured” shots at one another as they usually did, but even the flamesman could tell the skeleton wasn’t in a “normal” mood.

Setting some money on the counter top as payment, Frisk stood to her feet and looked at Grillby with a slight smile. “Thanks for the drinks. I need to go, I’ve got a busy day tomorrow.” Her gaze was apologetic since they hadn’t really gotten a chance to talk about what the actual issue was. “I’ll try to stop by sooner this time, promise.” The woman turned on her heel and left quickly, finally sick of the awkward atmosphere that had fallen on the three of them.

Grillby’s gaze trailed after her as he resisted the urge to follow the woman at the moment and finish the conversation they had started. Glancing over to the skeleton he felt his aura shift from feigned calm to irritation now. “Are you ready to talk now friend?” The flamesman turned to face the skeleton fully as he stood tall, his gaze smoldering with a faint hint of irritation now.

“Damn right. Jus’ cuz I know Dollface woulda tried ta intervene otherwise.” Red growled angrily as his eye sockets narrowed into an irritated glare at Grillby now. “So wha’s yer deal wit her anyways?” Red snapped as he clenched his fists on the bar top.

“Heh, I wouldn’t have thought her getting involved would have stopped you.” Grillby replied, smirking slightly at his reply. “Anyways, yes I’m interested in Frisk. Is there a problem with that? As far as I was aware she was nothing more than a subordinate you acquired through some kind of deal you two made.” He spoke in a smooth, calm tone as he stared at the skeleton searching for an unspoken answer as to why he had suddenly become so defensive and possessive of the human.

“It don’t matter what I think about ‘er. I still own ‘er; she’s mine because of that deal. So if ya know what’s good for ya, you’ll—“ Red’s skeletal fists clenched even tighter now as he straightened himself up as tall as he could on the bar stool. His magical energy started to increase with his anger as he began to go off on the flamesman.

 “Are you two Bound?” Grillby interrupted the skeleton’s tantrum in a quiet tone peering over the top of his glasses at him, trying to keep their conversation as unnoticeable as possible. Red’s mouth quickly snapped shut as an audible click of his pointed teeth could be heard and he grew silent at the question. “Well Sans? Are you two Bound by your souls or not? I feel the need to point out if you don’t want the woman pursued by other monsters you have to stake your claim to her. Otherwise, if she’s looking to find a partner, she’s available to be pursued as far as any other monster would be concerned, not just myself.” The flamesman’s tone was matter of fact as he spoke staring with a serious gaze at Red. Friend or not, Grillby wasn’t about to back down on his interest in the woman if she and the skeleton were not Bound unless he had a damn good reason instead.

Red couldn’t exactly answer the question truthfully. TECHNICALLY he and Frisk were Bound, he had done it when making their deal in order to make sure she would hold up her end of it. The woman wasn’t aware that their souls were Bound however, and Red didn’t have any plans on telling her this. Being Bound was a big deal in the monster world, each partner took a piece of each other’s soul and bound it to their own soul. Not wanting Grillby to mention this to Frisk however, the skeleton did the only thing he could think of. “No… we aren’t.” he finally forced the words from his mouth as he glared slightly at the flamesman’s question.

Grillby waited as his gaze turned calm now that the skeleton’s temper had been snuffed out. He let the reply hang in the air for a few moments, almost expecting more of an answer from his friend. However nothing else was said as Red took a gulp of his drink that had been made earlier. Grillby stood straight now as he crossed his arms over his chest giving Red a slight smirk at his personal victory. “Well then, feel free to explain to me what the issue is friend. As far as I’m concerned Frisk is not tied down to anyone, at least not that she’s indicated.”

“There ain’t an issue. I jus’ thought you were interested in Muffet, an’ if that was the case, I ain’t letting ya get close ta the human. I gotta put up with her sorry, depressed ass if yer just playin’ with her. It’s pretty common for you to be a fuckin’ playboy.” Red snapped quickly, thinking up a fairly good excuse on the spot. His gaze drifted to Grillby, who gave a slight chuckle leaning against the counter next to Red now.

“I suppose I can at least see your point there Sans. If that’s what you’re worried about though, there’s no need. Muffet is very finicky, and seems to like me then hate me on a weekly basis. I’m not particularly interested in dealing with her dual personality.” The flamesman replied in a calm tone. “If I pursue Frisk and it turns out to be nothing, I’ll make sure we leave on good terms. Just so you don’t have to deal with any backlash.” He glanced over to the skeleton waiting for his reply.

Grillby was aware this was the only way things would even remotely work out if Frisk was interested. If Red would lay off both him and the woman, the rumors would more than likely come to an end and Frisk’s anxiety should lessen considerably if she wasn’t worried about the skeleton over reacting to her actions.

Red kept his silence as he stared at the drink in front of him. He absentmindedly drummed his phalanges against the bar top as he felt his irritation with the whole situation building; jealousy, although he wasn’t aware this was the emotion he was feeling, seemed the thrum through his bones and into his soul now. _“There’s no reason fer me ta be so bothered by this shit. It don’t make sense for me ta be.”_ The skeleton mentally scolded himself as a frown tugged at the corners of his mouth while he tried to sort through the emotions he was experiencing from this whole situation. _“Maybe… maybe it’s cuz I…”_ His thought trailed off as his eye sockets widened slightly at a thought that entered his skull before he gave his head a shake. _“Nah that can’t be it.”_

 “Whateva. Jus’ keep in mind I don’t wanna deal with ‘er if ya decide that she’s not whatchya want.” Red suddenly snapped at the flamesman as he glared daggers at him before getting down off his seat and shoving his hands in his pockets as he made his way for the door, deciding to leave the conversation at that.

Grillby’s calm gaze followed after the skeleton as he left. The flamesman hadn’t been unaware of the shift in Red’s aura that seemed to be something more than just irritation. He had also seen his left eye socket glow green briefly as he had sat in silence. While Grillby didn’t exactly know what this meant since both Sans’ and Papyrus’s magic seemed to act a bit differently than most monsters, the flamesman had to admit he wondered if it was because of jealousy that his magic had shifted to that color.

Leaning on the counter, Grillby drummed his fingers on the bar top in thought as he stared off for a minute while he debated with himself over the situation. Standing straight now as the flamesman came to his decision, he pulled his phone from his pocket and quickly sent out a text message before returing to his customers that had been impatiently waiting for SOMETHING to happen. When nothing of interest occurred between the three, much to the monster’s dismay, they started becoming a bit impatient about not being served quick enough while the whole situation had been going on.

~o~o~o~

Frisk paced back and forth in her room as evening descended on the monster village now. Dressed in a burgundy top that came down just past her hips with off the shoulder sleeves that stopped just above her elbows and a pair of black fabric dress pants, the woman glanced down at her phone checking the time before returning to her pacing. She felt nervous as she was still processing the course of events that had occurred since her visit to Grillby’z Bar four days ago.

After arriving home and quietly making her way upstairs to her room to try to figure out just how she was going to break away from Red long enough to actually talk with the flamesman, Frisk heard her text message chime go off. Looking at the phone she saw the short text from Grillby simply stating “Don’t worry about Sans popping in tomorrow. We’ll actually be able to talk this time. If you could grace me with your presences once more.” The woman didn’t understand what he had meant at the time, but decided to worry more about it when she went to talk with him the next day.

Frisk wasn’t oblivious to the fact that Red’s aura still felt off, that something was still bothering the skeleton but he didn’t really say much to her either so the woman decided not to pry too much. Much to the woman’s surprise when she mentioned that she was planning to go out for a little bit the skeleton had just given her a slight grunt of acknowledgement before disappearing up to his room through a shortcut.

That wasn’t the end of the surprises for her either. Frisk’s plan for talking with Grillby hadn’t changed; she just wanted to be sure there were no misunderstandings between herself and the flamesman. The shocked silence she had fallen into when he had asked her if she would be the slightest bit interested in going on a date had lasted longer than what she had realized.

Just as Grillby was going to take her silence as a no and apologize for putting her on the spot the woman managed to force out the word “one” from her mouth. As the flamesman looked at her, the woman cleared her throat before speaking again. “One date. I’m not exactly a fan of dating. I usually have a good idea after one whether or not I’m interested.” Although she spoke with a serious look on her face, the butterflies in her stomach told her she was nervous about just the idea of going on a date since it had been so long.

That was how she found herself in her current position as she glanced at her phone, checking the time once again. She gave a slight sigh, trying to calm her nerves as she opened her door to head downstairs. Pausing just outside her door the woman winced inwardly as she heard the TV blaring from the living room, indicating that at least one of the skelebro’s was down there. She found herself hoping that it was just Papyrus as she still hadn’t really mentioned to Red that she was going out tonight.

~o~o~o~

Red sat with a slightly bored expression staring at the TV in front of him as he leaned on the armrest of the couch. In order to pacify his brother and keep the skeleton from bitching at him for locking himself in his room constantly, Red had decided to spend a little bit of time downstairs with his brother watching some TV. Not that what Papyrus watched interested the older skeleton at all but at least he was making an effort.

Hearing movement on the landing, the skeleton’s red pinprick gaze shifted towards the source of the noise. Seeing Frisk make her way down, his eye sockets widened slightly at her appearance before he shifted a little in his seat, turning his attention quickly back to the TV, frowning now as he glared slightly at the screen in front of him. Papyrus also shifted his attention to the woman now acknowledging her with a slight nod of his skull. “GOOD EVENING HUMAN!  ARE YOU GOING OUT TONIGHT?” Papyrus asked staring at the woman as she made her way down to the bottom of the stairs.

“Yes, Papy, I am going out.” Frisk replied giving the taller skeleton a slight smile before her gaze briefly flickered over to Red, almost anticipating a bad reaction from him. The shorter skeleton didn’t seem to react at all however as his attention seemed focused on whatever was on the TV. Papyrus waited for her to elaborate, when she didn’t he decided to prod just a little bit more as his curiosity had gotten the better of him.

“INTERESTING, I WASN’T AWARE YOU WERE SEEING SOMEONE, HUMAN! YOU’VE MENTIONED BEFORE YOUR LACK OF PERSONAL TIME THANKS TO WORK!” Papyrus prodded slightly as a curious look entered his gaze.

Frisk felt her cheeks grow slightly warm in embarrassment as she coughed slightly into her hand. “Um… well I wouldn’t see that I’m seeing someone exactly Papy. I’m just… going out with a friend is all…” the woman answered in a quiet tone trying to make herself seem as small as possible.

The taller skeleton arched an eye socket at the woman’s answer as his gaze clearly said he didn’t believe her.”I SEE. IS THIS FRIEND SOMEONE WE KNOW OR ARE THEY OF THE HUMAN VARIETY?” Papyrus inquired curiously.

“Ah…hmm… with all due respect, I don’t think that’s necessary information to share Papy. They’re just a friend I’m going out with tonight. That’s all.” Frisk decided against answering the inquiry and instead making the answer vague. She preferred to be a private person and that particular information was on a need to know basis, in her opinion Papyrus didn’t really NEED to know the answer to his question. Not to mention she was fairly sure Red had an idea of who it was that she was seeing tonight, she would be more surprised if he didn’t, and she didn’t want to antagonize him about it if she could help it.

A faintly annoyed look crossed the younger skeleton’s features as the human avoided elaborating further. Giving a huff as he crossed his arms now looking at the TV the skeleton spoke again. “IN EITHER CASE, TRY NOT TO DRAW TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO YOURSELF! I’VE HAD TO DEAL WITH ENOUGH BACKLASH FROM UNDYNE WITH THIS MOST RECENT SITUATION!” Papyrus snapped in an irritated voice. Frisk found herself smiling in spite of herself, his pouting was almost cute to her as she walked up behind the couch and gave him a small hug of assurance.

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay out of trouble Papy. I’m sorry about Undyne, I’ll bring it up to the king if you want.” The woman offered in an apologetic tone as she stood behind him now. She heard the skeleton give a faint huff, however his glare softened slightly as he glanced up at her.

“DON’T BOTHER YOURSELF WITH IT HUMAN! I CAN HANDLE UNDYNE JUST FINE! YOU’RE SURE YOU’LL BE ALRIGHT BY YOURSELF? WHILE I KNOW YOU DON’T NEED SOMEONE WATCHING YOU AT ALL TIMES I’M CONCERNED YOU MIGHT BE MORE OF A TARGET AT THE MOMENT, SINCE ALL THESE IDIOTS SEEM TO LIKE DRAMA SO MUCH!” Papyrus replied in a calm tone as he turned his red gaze back to the TV in front of him.

“I’ll be alright, I promise. If nothing else Red is just a phone call away. I’m in good hands though so there shouldn’t be a problem.” The woman replied with a slight smile, turning her head as the sound of a vehicle pulling up in front of their house could be heard. Looking back at the two she stepped away from the couch and gave a small wave. “I’ll be back later.” With that the woman disappeared quickly out the front door.

Silence filled the living room now as the sound of the TV seemed to be amplified. Red had spent the entirety of the conversation trying not to let his irritation show to the two as he tried not to interfere with the woman’s personal life. Grillby had made a good point when he said Frisk didn’t TECHNICALLY belong to him since they weren’t properly Bound, however the sudden urge to snap on the woman for going on a date with him had nearly overwhelmed Red as he felt jealousy stab at his soul. He wasn’t aware of it, but his left eye light had begun to glow a very faint green, just enough so that his brother had noticed it.

“I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU ARE SO UPSET SANS!” Papyrus suddenly snapped at his brother. While the two didn’t appear very close, Papyrus knew the older skeleton better than anyone. He could read his brother without even needing to feel his energy change, and right now he could almost feel the restricted anger and jealousy radiating from Red.

“I dunno what yer talkin’ about Boss. I ain’t upset ‘bout nothin’.” Red replied in what he hoped sounded like a calm tone as he stared blankly at the TV while his mind wandered now. He wondered what he had to be jealous about _“It’s gotta be b’cuz she’s spent almost every day either here or at the castle. I’m so used to havin’ her around that with her possibly datin’ him I’m worried she ain’t gonna keep up with my chores. Damn… I don’t wanna hafta go back ta doin’ stuff to keep Papyrus quiet.”_ The skeleton’s silent thoughts rattled in his skull as he tried to make sense of his reaction.

“YOU’VE HAD A YEAR AND A HALF TO SORT THROUGH WHATEVER IT IS YOU FEEL FOR THE WOMAN! ALTHOUGH I FEEL NOTHING LIKE THAT FOR HER, AS A NEUTRAL PARTY IN THIS I’LL ADMIT SHE’S ATTRACTIVE FOR A HUMAN SO THERE SHOULDN’T BE MUCH OF A SURPRISE SOMEONE ELSE ASIDE FROM YOURSELF WOULD BE INTERESTED IN HER.” Papyrus spoke in a matter of fact tone as he looked over to the shorter skeleton who shot him a side glance before facing him with a glare.

“Look I’m not interested in Frisk a’right?! She don’t mean nothin’ ta me, I’m jus’ makin’ sure she holds up her end of the deal we made!” Red snapped in an angry tone at his brother, irritated that the younger skeleton seemed to know him too well.

Papyrus gave Red a hard stare as they looked at one another before sighing and running his gloved hand down his face. “SANS! DO YOU REALLY TAKE ME FOR THAT MUCH OF A FOOL, OR ARE YOU JUST REALLY THAT STUPID?!” he snapped at his brother before taking in the confusion that flickered across his brother’s face. A loud groan was emitted from the taller skeleton “YOU CAN’T TELL ME YOU DON’T KNOW THAT YOU HAVE A THING FOR THE WOMAN! YOU BOUND YOUR SOUL TO HER’S FOR FUCKS SAKE! DEAL OR NOT YOU KNOW THAT’S A SERIOUS COMMITMENT!” Papyrus looked at Red with stare of disbelief.

“How the hell did you find out about that?!” Red snapped in a panicked tone as he stood to his feet now. He needed to do something aside from sit there as agitation was clearly visible on his face. There was no way Papyrus could have known about it. He had positioned himself and Frisk that day with the knowledge that he would bind their souls. When offering the woman the handshake that day, he had done it when he was sure no one was paying them any attention.

Papyrus gave a slight chuckle at the panicked tone as he arched an eye socket at Red. “SINCE YOU WOULDN’T TELL ME THE DETAILS OF YOUR LITTLE DEAL I GOT THEM OUT OF THE HUMAN’S LITTLE FLOWER FRIEND! WHAT HE DESCRIBED TO ME SOUNDED A HELL OF A LOT LIKE SOUL BINDING TO ME!” The taller skeleton accused with a frown now as he looked at the shorter skeleton.

“Fuckin’ Petals! I’m gonna kill ‘im next time I see ‘im.” Red’s temper finally hit its peak as his left eye socket glowed angrily now. “Fine. Yeah we are Bound, but Dollface dunno about it. I only did it so that she couldn’t git outta the deal we made.” Red snapped at his brother, he was really regretting spending time down here now.

“NEYH HEH HEH, IF THAT’S TRUE THEN WHY ARE YOU SO UPSET ABOUT HER GOING OUT TONIGHT?!” Papyrus asked in a smug tone as he smirked at his brother. He saw the skeleton open his mouth to argue again. “BEFORE YOU SAY OTHERWISE, YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR MAGIC RIGHT NOW! IT’S BECOME A VIBRANT SHADE OF GREEN! YOU KNOW IF LEFT UNCHECKED OUR MAGIC IS LIKE A WINDOW TO OUR SOUL! IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE ME GO SEE FOR YOURSELF!” the taller skeleton chuckled, slightly amused now. While his brother might not realize his feelings for the woman, his magic was certainly a tell tale sign.

“Fine! There’s no way I’m jealous Boss, an’ I’ll prove it to ya!” Red snapped as he gave a slight glare of irritation at Papyrus’s words. Red quickly disappeared into a shortcut, reappearing just outside the bathroom door as he stalked in to glance at the mirror. His eye sockets widened as he saw his left eye blazing with a green magic instead of his normal red. “Fuck.” It was the only word the skeleton could form coherently as his magic gave away emotions he hadn’t even been sure he was feeling.

“IF YOU’RE UNABLE TO SORT OUT WHATEVER IS GOING THROUGH THAT THICK SKULL OF YOURS AND TAKE ACTION, I WILL TAKE ACTION FOR YOU AND YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT SANS!” the taller skeleton called up the stairs and air of seriousness to his tone. “DEAL OR NOT I CANNOT HAVE THIS MUCH TENSION DISTRACTING FRISK FROM HER DUTIES AS THE AMBASSADOR! THE KING WILL NOT BE HAPPY IF FRISK KEEPS SHOWING UP TO WORK AS STRESSED AS WHAT SHE IS!” Papyrus’s voice grated against Red’s skull as he felt a headache coming on.

“I’ll figure it out Pap.” Red called down to his brother in a tired sounding tone. He couldn’t really think of a solution to this, even admitting now that he was jealous wasn’t going to solve anything. Frisk would probably resent him more if he tried to push his feelings on her. Even if she didn’t, how did he expect her to respond to “Hey, I know I’ve been an ass ta ya since I met ya, but I just wanted ta let ya know that I think I kinda like ya.”

Giving a low groan of frustration the skeleton quickly disappeared into his room, slamming the door behind him now. He ran his hand over his face as he gave another groan, which seemed to be the only noise he had enough energy to make. There were things he _could_ do, but most of them were not things he wanted to do, or they would probably end up creating an even bigger gap between himself and the woman. Thankfully his irritation and jealousy had subsided for the time being so he could think clearly at the moment at the very least. Contemplating the options he had, the skeleton laid down on his bed staring blankly at the ceiling above him as if it could fix this situation for him.

~o~o~o~

Frisk soon found herself walked to the door of the skelebro’s house by Grillby. Their date had gone… well. Frisk actually didn’t regret giving the monster a chance, but she was still uncertain about it. It felt as if her soul wasn’t one hundred percent behind her on Grillby. Turning to face him with a small, relaxed smile on her face she tilted her head slightly. “Thank you for tonight Grillby. I... had a good time.” She spoke in a quiet voice looking at the flamesman.

“I’m glad Beautiful. That smile on your face says you had a good time as well. It makes you look even more stunning.” Grillby smirked slightly as his purple gaze glowed brightly at her. “Did it go well enough that I could convince you to go on another one?” the monster asked in a low tone as he closed the distance between himself and Frisk. The woman bit her lip gently at the question as she suddenly found herself very close to the flamesman.

“Ah… I-I think that would be alright. I would… like that.” The woman exhaled slightly, resisting the urge to take a step back away from Grillby. Last time she did that he had taken advantage of her nervousness. His lips parted slightly as a pleased smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. He lifted his hand to brush the back of it gently against the woman’s cheek. Frisk inhaled sharply at the motion as she stared with wide eyes at him.

“I’ll look forward to hearing from you then, Frisk.” His voice was almost a purr as he leaned in just a little closer to unnerve the woman before his hand grasped hers and he brushed a warm kiss gently over her knuckles. Without another word Grillby stood straight and put his hands in the pockets of his coat as he turned and made his way back to the car. His smoldering gaze never left her until he turned around to walk away.

Frisk found herself staring after Grillby with her mouth slightly agape. He was working his damn natural charm on her right now, and although she didn’t want to admit it… it was working. The woman felt the butterflies flittering about in her stomach as well as her cheeks growing warm as she stared after the flamesman wanting to say something more but feeling her words caught in her throat she remained silent.

Turning quickly she put her hand on the door knob as she leaned against the door collecting her scattered thoughts. _“Water…”_ she realized as her throat felt sand paper dry and swallowing had suddenly become a sort of sport for the woman as she quietly opened up the door and made her way inside.

Quick and quiet strides led her into the kitchen as she grabbed one of the few glasses in the cabinet and filled it with water taking a slow sip of it as she stood in a contemplative state, staring with a far away gaze at the floor. Frisk realized that this moment was the first time in a long time she felt… okay? Happy? Like she mattered as a person and not just an Ambassador or, in Red’s case, a subordinate? The woman wasn’t sure how to describe the feeling.

As she stared off, lost in her thoughts the faint ‘pop’ that occurred was lost to deafened ears. Red froze in the doorway now as he stared at her with a mask of calmness on his face. While her expression didn’t give away how the… _date_ had gone, Red could feel the piece of her soul he carried give off a calm, happy sensation in his chest. That thought caused jealousy to start creeping into the back of his mind as he tried to quickly squash the feeling before it could spread and reveal itself to the woman in front of him.

 _“Too late…”_ He realized quickly as he saw the woman shift uncomfortably before blinking her eyes sensing his presents, and jealousy, in the room. Frisk’s gaze shifted from the tile floor over to him now. While her facial features didn’t change he could see her shoulders tense and her back straighten even from across the room. He also could feel a bit of her tension in him as well as the calm, happy aura that had surrounded her just moments ago was replaced with a tense aura that made the air around them thick with tension.

The skeleton wanted to say that he was surprised at the reaction she gave just from his presents however he had almost grown to expect it at this point. He knew he had gone out of his way to make her life difficult as hell, but that didn’t stop the ripple of pain that went through him at the realization that she would probably never feel like she could relax around him.

“Hi Red.” The soft sound that cut through the air was definitely out of place for the moment as she looked at him with a calm mask reminiscent of his own. Red didn’t exactly want to open his mouth; he was slowly becoming aware that every time he did that around the woman things usually ended up worse. “I… I’m sorry if I bothered you. I tried to be as quiet as possible on my way in.” Frisk’s tone was a little tenser now as silence had settled on them like a thick blanket.

“Nah. Yer fine.” His reply was curt and terse, straight to the point with her as always. _“Ya should say somethin’… anything.”_ Red’s voice echoed in his head as he fought to say something that wouldn’t make him sound like an ass as per usual. His jaw felt as though it were clamped shut however as he just stared at the woman.

“Oh… okay. G-good then, I’m glad I wasn’t a bother for you.” Frisk replied in a soft voice that held an awkward tone to it. She couldn’t place her finger on what it was but it seemed as though Red wanted to say something. Giving him a minute longer as she looked at him with a curious stare, she found herself thinking that she was probably wrong in the assumption as he said nothing else.

“Uh… your injury it… it looks a lot better. I’m glad it’s healing alright for you.” Frisk tried again, wanting to give him a chance to say what he wanted to say. He didn’t seem angry, but there was another emotion lingering somewhere in the depths of his eye lights that she just couldn’t place for the life of her.

“Mhm.” It was the only answer the skeleton could force from his jaw. _“Fuckin’ moron! Would ya just say somethin’ already! She’s givin’ ya a damn chance ta git this off yer chest, and all ya can say is ‘mhm’?!”_ Red’s voice mentally screamed at him as he felt the headache from earlier begin to return again.

She stared at him a moment longer, waiting, but nothing more was said. Finishing what was left of her water, Frisk set the glass down in the sink for the time being and turned around walking towards the doorway where he stood. “I’m going to bed now. I’ll see you in the morning… ah…” the woman paused as if not sure what she should say since the whole situation felt a bit awkward at the moment. “Have a good night Red.” She murmured casting the skeleton a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes before walking past him

As she disappeared upstairs, Red gave a slight sigh as his eye sockets narrowed in frustration. He sat down with a heavy thud at the table leaning on it as his skull rested on his arms now. “Fuck.” It, again, was the only thing he could say that accurately described his frustration at the moment as he closed his eye sockets, pretty sure that he wouldn’t be sleeping again tonight as his mind refused to shut down now that he had messed up. “I never shoulda gott’n involved with ‘er.” He muttered in a tired sounding tone as he buried his face further into his arms feeling the warm blanket of sleep lingering on the edges of his mind but not quite draping over him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers! Welcome to Chapter 5 of Deal with the Devil!
> 
> Poor Frisk and her difficult drama, she will get no break from this crap apparently. I'm still trying to keep this at a slow burn for Frisk and Red's developing relationship, and for some reason I'm kind of struggling with that. I think it has to do with the fact that this story is not moving at a day by day pace but more of a week by week pace. Hopefully though for all of you the pace of the story is enjoyable and not awkward.
> 
> This time we get to see a little bit of character development for Papyrus and Mettaton as well. I feel like in the AU of Underfell this is their relationship, Mettaton is Papyrus's biggest fan due to a situation in the past where Papyrus helped out the poor ghost/robot monster. I don't have a plan to really go into that, however because of what happened Mettaton is literally in love with Papyrus, and also incredibly jealous of the human woman that lives/sleeps/ exists in the same house as Papyrus. He will go out of his way to either try to piss Frisk off or try to make her feel like crap, so Frisk tries to avoid him all together especially if Mettaton is over to see Papyrus.
> 
> I'd like to thank a guest on FanFiction.net who asked for Red to find Frisk's text messages with Grillby. I actually hadn't considered doing that until I saw the review, and I realized just how much that appealed to my internal demons who enjoy watching the characters in my stories suffer.
> 
> Whoo, I tried to keep the flamesman as much of a smooth talking charmer as I could. I feel like I succeeded but I also feel like I've shown that really he is just as quietly intelligent as his Undertale counterpart seems. In a world where brute strength usually rules, I wanted him to be able to silence others with words rather than fists. Unfortunately I'm not the most articulate person so it's hard to write a character that relies heavily on words and charms. That's probably why I enjoy writing his character so much, and also why I think he'll make a return in a future story at some time in point.
> 
> Alright readers thanks for taking the time to read the story! Thanks as well for any Kudos and/or Subscriptions! You guys are awesome and I appreciate every bit of support you all give me, whether it's the silent readers, the ones who leave kind words or the ones that provide with constructive feedback to help me out! There will probably be a short break before the next chapter so that I can get back to working on my other Undertale story Ivytale. So I apologize in advance for the upcoming wait but I hope you guys will stick with me and this story! :3


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